Rise of the Robots
by Zephyr Moore
Summary: AU - In the mega-suit developed by Dr. Edgar Light, Celes Volnutt fights back against the robots wreaking havoc on Mega City. Strange changes are coming over Edgar's special line of robots and an old partner returns with a vengeance. Celes must reach out to an assortment of people she never imagined meeting in order to stop the harm that's already been done from getting any worse.
1. Chapter 1 - Courage and Will

A/N: So here's a story idea that sort of came out of nowhere and seemed entirely too fun not to write. I debated putting it in as a crossover of FF and Mega Man, but as it's primarily a story about the FFVI characters, and only bears its setting from Mega Man, I felt it appropriate enough to put it with the other FF fanfics.

Be warned, I will be taking many, many creative liberties. Much of the lore will be accurate, but used in a different way. Characters will experience similar things they did in the original FFVI, but with different twists to fit the new setting. The story won't be copied straight from either game, but something that combines both into a new world. So, lore junkies - feel free to point out anything incorrect. I might've missed it, or it might be intentional. We'll see. And as always, anyone interested in being a Beta Reader is welcome to contact me about it!

Anyway, enjoy the new series! I'm still writing it, so it'll be slower then my Pokemon work, but I won't give up on it!

Disclaimer: I do no own Final Fantasy VI or any of its characters or rights. Nor do I own Mega Man or its setting.

* * *

 **Chapter 1**

Mega City was a mess. Chunks of steel and concrete littered the streets. Holes dotted the buildings like a honeycomb. Never before had the cutting edge city of towers and technology seen such a disaster. Now robots roamed the otherwise empty streets, the same robots that attacked the citizens on sight before they evacuated. With no more people to target, the robots wandered, seemingly without purpose, occasionally tearing away at their surroundings.

One such worker robot ambled along, its squat legs holding up a round head. Every few steps it slumped to the ground, disappearing beneath the construction helmet it wore, staying only a moment before popping back up and wandering away.

A blast of energy caught it just as it stood up, destroying the robot's black body and sending the helmet skittering across the concrete. Celes lowered her arm cannon, hopped over the cover she'd hidden behind, and continued on, kicking the helmet aside as she went. Tapping the side of her own blue helmet, she scanned the area nearby. Blips of robot energy flashed across her visor, transposed over the world around her. They showed up on the other side of walls, underground – wherever she looked.

"Things are everywhere," she muttered. They clustered more in the buildings, so avoiding those made things a bit easier but a lot longer. Should she conserve time or energy?

"Celes! Above you!"

Her eyes snapped up. A robot hovered in air high above, its fan blades spinning far enough away that she missed it. A shot of energy burst from the turret and its base and Celes threw herself to the side as it pelted the ground where she'd stood. Chips of rock flew from the new hole in the street even as the turret swiveled and took aim again.

Not that she was about to wait for it. Celes whipped her arm cannon up, lined the target up in her visor reticle, and squeezed the hand grip. The first shot knocked the robot off balance, the next blasted it from the sky. It crashed to the ground in pieces.

Celes blew out a breath. "Good catch, Edgar. I see why you put the communicator in."

"It was really just so I could hear your lovely voice," Edgar's chipper voice came through her earpiece, "but yes, this is helpful too."

She rolled her eyes, a smile tugging at her lips. Edgar would be Edgar. "So what happened out here? Any word?"

"Not yet. We know the worker robots out here went berserk, started attacking anyone in sight, but no idea why."

"Not helpful." She picked through the wrecked robot, pocketing a few circuits that weren't destroyed. "How about a direction, or general clue?"

"Still the way you're going. There's a higher energy concentration further in. That's about the best you're gonna get."

"Oh, good," Celes deadpanned, "I love surprises."

Edgar laughed. "Lighten up, Celes! That mega-suit you're wearing is more then capable of handling a few surprises. I could use more readings in fact, so feel free to rush into whatever's there."

He seemed right about that - not that she'd tell him. The suit was a marvel. She was faster and stronger than any soldier – and a lot of robots – and it shrugged aside hits that would kill her without it. It was a soldier's dream armor. Wasn't much to look at though. Smooth, somehow flexible plates of metal formed the suit and molded close to her natural figure. It felt more like a bulky leotard then an armored suit really. Then came the coloring, nothing more then a blend of different shades of blue. Edgar had strange taste.

"Sounds like you're trying to get me killed."

"I'm hurt you think I'd do that to you," Edgar moaned. "It'd be impossible for me to replace such a beautiful partner."

Now Celes groaned. "Oh come on, Edgar. Laying it on a bit thick there, aren't you?"

"I don't see how. Mere words couldn't possibly do you justice."

"Enough!" What an exasperating man, ridiculously direct and impossible to ignore. She took a breath to calm the blood before it flooded her cheeks. "Just figure out where I'm going. I don't want to be wandering around all day."

"Yes, Ma'am."

* * *

The mess of winding roads and dead ends worsened as Celes moved further into the city district. Landslides and crumbling buildings turned the place into a maze, and while she could go over some of it, other sections were too unstable. She'd survive the collapse thanks to Edgar's 'mega-suit' – as he liked to call it – but she didn't fancy spending hours buried in rubble. All of it was a recipe for a long day.

It wasn't boring at least. The renegade robots popped up everywhere she went, giving her plenty of practice in using her suit. Still, a question nagged at her. "Hey Edgar, these are all just worker bots, right?"

"Right. They all serve their own special purpose. Some can easily reach higher levels, some excel at digging up the ground, and others were built for the heavy lifting. It's a whole ecosystem, and designing it all was a fantastic challenge. I remember one time I got stuck-"

"Yeah, alright," Celes cut in, "I just have a simple question then: why do they all have blasters or weapons of some sort? You didn't mention that before I got here."

"I didn't design them that way – well, not all of them. So either they modified themselves or-"

"Or someone else did it to them." She frowned as she finished his thought. "Which would be worse?"

"Well, if the robots built weapons into themselves, it goes along with what we already know of the situation. Something caused them to go haywire. Making adjustments to their bodies would show a level of intelligence they shouldn't have – which is quite interesting – but that's about it."

Celes considered that when Edgar paused. True artificial intelligence in simple worker robots could cause all sorts of trouble. "And if someone did it to them then this whole situation was intentional, with a mastermind behind it all."

"That's about the gist of it. So you tell me which is worse – an evolution or an attack?"

"Give me someone to blast any day," Celes smirked. "The tech stuff is your department."

"Somehow I figured you'd pick that one."

More robots wandered across her path, and Celes ducked behind cover. "So, any ideas who might be behind this?"

"Assuming there is someone – driller on your left."

She blasted the robot apart just as it came above ground. "Got it."

"I'm not going to jump to any conclusions. Let's just stop these robots before we go looking for more trouble."

Celes dashed from cover, jumping over another hardhat robot and blasting some sort of two legged hopper bot as it charged her. "Fine by me. Am I close to wherever I'm going yet?" Spinning, she kicked the hardhat bot over and blasted away its underside.

Faint tapping carried over her earpiece. "You should just about be able to see it. Ah, there. That construction site off to your right."

After double checking the area for robots, Celes followed his direction. She had to tilt her head back to see all the way to the top. "That giant, half-built tower?"

"That's the one."

Her head swam a little as she tracked the steel beams up to dizzying heights. "So, how durable is this suit against falling?"

"It would take quite a bit of impact force to damage the mega-suit. Of course, considering its own weight, hitting terminal velocity could be pretty dangerous."

"Don't fall then?"

"Try to limit it to a few stories."

Celes grimaced, "Right..."

More robots crossed her path on the way to the buildings base, their numbers increasing as she got ever closer. None of the little ones much worried her, not with their small blasters, but she still took it slow. Their sheer numbers could be a problem, and it reached the point where she couldn't take ten steps without shooting something. Worker bots swarmed around the base of the tower.

As an added precaution, Celes tapped her visor to scan for robots beyond what she could see. The building went red, she couldn't even see it through all the indicators.

Celes blew a sharp whistle. "You see this, Edgar?"

"That's not possible though," he muttered. "There's no way the city owns that many worker bots. Not considering how many are in the area outside the building."

"Other types of robots maybe? Have any from other parts of the city joined up?"

He didn't answer, so she looked over the building again. Running the scan again didn't help, she couldn't pick anything out among the mass. Was there even anything special there to find? "You sure there's anything here? Beyond all the little guys?"

"Almost certainly. The sensors can differentiate individual power sources, regardless of proximal density."

"Shouldn't you be able to pinpoint the larger one then?"

"I did. It's in there."

Celes rolled her head back and groaned. "Can't you be a little more precise?"

He hummed in thought. "Maybe. Let me see if I can triangulate the source of the signal a bit. Go around the building."

"Why?"

"I need to bounce the signal off your suit in order to get a proper directional reading, and getting a precise location within a three dimensional object requires at least three points of origin, otherwise I can't decipher all three axes."

"... I'm going to pretend I understood that and just walk around the building." Edgar chuckled as she started picking out her route. She kept a sharp eye on the robots visible in the building, if she could see them they could see her, but none ventured out her way. They seemed caught up in whatever they were doing.

Celes frowned. None of the other robots she came across were involved in much of anything. What made the ones here so different? She angled her route in closer to the building, but it was still difficult to see anything.

"I know you're trying to help, Celes, but if you go any closer you may as well go inside."

She stopped – he had a point. "Hey you can see all of this, right? Can you use any of your fancy machines to get a closer look?"

"I've kinda got my hands full with everything else- Ah, Relm! Give me a hand, would you?" Background noise filtered in through her earpiece, none of it clear enough to make out. "No, Interceptor can't do it. He's not a robot." More noise, then Edgar sighing. "Fine, I'll look at your digi-easel as soon as we're done here, now hop in that chair over there and zoom the picture in."

Celes' visor blinked a moment later and the whole world enlarged before her eyes. It was still her view, just much closer, which meant if she moved, everything moved. She snapped her eyes shut after her stomach threatened to rebel. "Oh, that's going to take some getting used to."

"Relm! Stop playing with that. Go back out." A pause. "There, right there. Alright, Celes, you should be good. Sorry about that." A peek between her eyelids was all she dared until she saw the world was normal again. "Look at whatever you want to zoom in on and let us know. Also, there's an override switch for your visor just above your left ear. Hit that if anything ever goes wrong, or if you have a rambunctious ten year old at the controls."

That made her feel a little better. "And why can't I do this myself?"

"Well, I didn't program that functionality into the suit," Edgar admitted. "But I will!"

Celes shook her head and went back to it, focusing in on one of the robots moving around. "Alright, let me see this thing." Her vision jumped forward, bringing the bold, yellow construction helmet into full view. It looked just like the others she'd run across, though this one was swinging a mallet at the steel beams. They didn't have arms, but they apparently had built in tools. Still, there was nothing special about it as it went about its work.

Then it clicked, what was out of place. "Edgar, it's not destroying the building. It's putting it together."

"Really?" He paused. "That's unusual. None of the robots we've seen elsewhere have shown any tendencies toward their programmed functions."

"Zoom out." Celes' view returned to normal. Now that she knew what robots were doing, even from a distance she could make out their movements. "The rest are the same, they're all working on the site, not tearing it apart." This didn't feel right. All the robots were acting differently, in the same way, around the site with the large energy source Edgar found? There was no way it wasn't intentional.

"Celes, watch your right!"

She spun, blaster arm swinging up to take aim. When she saw it though, she paused. It was one of the yellow hardhat bots, but it just stood there, looking at her. "Edgar, why isn't it attacking?"

"Maybe the robots around this site lack the violent tendencies of the others. See if you can get closer. There should be a shutoff switch in the cross on its helmet."

Celes grimaced. "This doesn't sound like one of your better ideas."

"Relax. Worse case, it shoots at you and you shoot back. Your suit can more then handle a shot from these guys." With a sigh, she stepped toward it, not lowering her arm cannon.

She made it one step before a hatch snapped open at the top of the robot's helmet and a spinning red light slid out of the hole. An ear splitting siren rang out from the robot, making her wince even as it turned to run.

"Celes, stop it! It'll alert everything for half a mile!"

"Thanks for pointing out the obvious!" She fired off a shot, blasting away a pile of rubble as the robot hooked around it. An annoyed growl built in her chest and she took off after it, leaping the debris to catch up. Another blast clipped its hardhat and bounced off – it was halfway to the construction site already. "Damn thing's fast! Did they modify your design?"

Edgar cleared his throat. "I may have forgotten about the alarm bot model."

Shots came from the building as she chased the alarm bot, and she returned fire but fell further behind. "Well help me out here! I can't watch everything at once!"

"I'm trying to track the energy source, but with so much going on-"

"Finding it won't help if they turn me into swiss cheese!"

He cursed, then his voice faded out and noises came over the earpiece, like the mic bouncing around. The sounds stopped. "Hi, Celes!"

Celes dodged behind a half-built wall and let the alarm bot go as shots pelted the ground around her. "Relm? Where's Edgar?"

"He said he's busy. I'm your navigator now, so let's do this!"

Celes didn't have the words – she was going to kill him, if the robots didn't get her first. "This isn't a game, Relm!"

"I know that," Relm sassed. "I can do this just as good as Edgar can. Oh! There's one on your left!" Celes spun and blew a hole in the bot just as it hopped around the corner. "See? We can totally do this!"

One of the biggest downsides to having a helmet, she couldn't rub away the headache coming on. "Alright, just try not to get me shot."

"Oh please. Now get a move on! Those robots won't shoot themselves!"

Not quite the sentiment Celes was after, but the girl had a point – she couldn't stay there. By now, that alarm would've alerted the entire complex. Whatever was inside would be waiting for her.

"Okay," Celes blew out a long breath, "time to put this suit through its paces."

* * *

Turned out Relm wasn't the worst spotter in the world, though the constant stream of taunts and cheers made the whole situation feel like a game, no matter what Celes told the girl. Relm pointed out another bot, and Celes blasted it from the path.

"Yeah!" Relm laughed. "Robot dust!"

Celes smirked. "More like robot parts."

"Dust sounds cooler. Don't be a party pooper."

"This isn't-"

Relm sighed. "I know, I know. Sheesh. Come on though, admit we've been having fun."

Celes rolled her eyes. "Is Edgar done yet?"

"Lemme check - Edgar! Celes is getting impatient!" Relm picked up on that apparently. "Aww, you're done? Alright, here."

More shifting noises came through the earpiece and Celes breathed in relief. She liked the younger girl well enough, but it was hard to handle her for any extended time. "Doing alright there, Celes?"

"Took you long enough."

"It's surprisingly difficult to find one signal in a building filled with hundreds. Go figure."

"So?" Celes hugged the wall, keeping watch for more robots. "Where am I going?"

"Up."

Celes waited for him to elaborate as she glanced up and down the hall. No robots had showed up for awhile, she must've cleared the area well enough with Relm. Nothing else came through her earpiece either. She clenched her jaw. "If you try to tell me that your only answer – after I've been running around with Relm for the past twenty minutes – is 'up', I'm going to come back there and lock you in a room with her. Just you and a bored little girl."

"Whoa," Edgar laughed, "calm down there, girl. You should take Relm's advice. Loosen up a little!"

Celes closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Then she let it out, nice and slow. "Edgar, I will shoot you."

Silence, then he cleared his throat. "The signal is three floors above you, and as far as I can tell, it hasn't moved off that floor."

"Got it." Celes moved down the hall and took the first set of stairs leading up she found. Robots wasted no time in attacking as she moved into the new area, and she blasted some sort of monkey bot swinging from the ceiling beams. Hardhat bots hid at every turn, their helmets strong enough to repel her blaster, yet as often as some attacked her others ignored her, continuing their work even after the alarm.

"What is this place anyway?" she asked.

"Well," Edgar trailed off, going quiet a few moment. "Ah, here we go. It was going to be an office building, that's all."

Celes blasted another bot that wasn't paying attention. "You think some of these robots just didn't go crazy then? Should I leave them alone?"

"I don't think that's it. Even robots that were working have attacked you, they just didn't go looking for you. It's like their programming is prioritized toward finishing their work."

"But if I threaten their work-"

"-then they turn on you, yes, which implies our second theory may be the right one. An outside influence is far more likely to have altered their programming this way than any kind of system error."

Celes lowered her blaster arm and peered down the next corridor. More robots littered the area, each going about their task. There was a pattern – the higher up she went the fewer robots attacked her first. Because there was more work to be done up higher? Or was it that the alarm didn't reach more then a few floors? On a hunch, she went around the next corner into the hallway, her arms down at her sides.

"Celes, what're you doing?" Concern tinted Edgar's voice.

"Just testing a theory," Celes said. "Your suit can take the shots from these guys, right?"

"Of course," he responded, then lowered his voice, "for awhile." She didn't respond - it shouldn't matter anyway. She walked down the hall, her strides soft and even as she passed between the robots. The robots never faltered as they went on hammering, welding, and otherwise continuing construction.

"If I'm not a threat, they're not a threat."

"They must really want this building up," Edgar said.

"Okay, so who owns the place?"

"Well, like I said, it's an office building, owned by," Edgar paused, "Empire Robotics."

"Anyone you know?"

Edgar hummed, "Maybe."

"Well find out, it may not make a difference, but-" Celes cut off as a new robot came into the hall. More humanoid then the others, it carried a large shield at its side and a gun in its other hand. With a quick step, Celes slipped between the partially built walls and pressed in out of sight. A clatter at her feet made her jump, her eyes following the noise. Celes cursed – she'd kicked over a bucket of tools and now the hardhat bot stared up at her. It'd set off the whole floor.

Waving her hands, she took a step back, not sure how to apologize to a robot. The little bot's eyes swiveled to her right arm and Celes cursed again as the bot beeped, its blaster opening and aiming her way. She stomped on the thing, flattening it under its own helmet. "Edgar, we-" Celes cringed as the little robot rattled against the floor, its' helmet clacking against the concrete as the sound bounced off the scattered walls, magnifying and echoing as it went. In a matter of seconds bots were peering at here from all over the level.

She kicked over the one she had trapped and blasted it away with a growl. "We have a problem!" No point waiting around now, and Celes bolted, blasting what bots she could and dodging the rest. When the shield bot came into view she snapped off a shot, only to watch it deflect off as the thing raised the shield. It covered the robot from head to toe, she could only see the blaster it leveled toward her. She skid and hooked a turn. "Help me out here! Where can I go?"

"I can't see the building layout, only the energy signals."

"You have to be able to do something- Ah!" Celes grit her teeth as a blast of energy hit her side.

"Celes!"

"I'm fine!" She blasted away another robot. "Your suit held up, but it stings like mad." Another shot clipped her shoulder. eliciting a hiss of pain from Celes before she spun and blasted the shooter. "Come on, Edgar!"

A frustrated groan came through the earpiece. "Alright! Head for the east wall!"

"East," she gauged the direction and took off at a run, "got it!" All her focus was on dodging the robots, she didn't even try to shoot back anymore, she just ran. Whatever she could, she cut across, glad the hallway walls weren't finished. Open sky caught her eye from an open section of the outer wall, and it raised her spirits – right before it dropped them.

"Edgar," she growled, "there is no east wall!"

"Exactly. We're going to test the jump jets."

Celes missed a step, almost slowing before another shot flashed by too close. "You want me to do what?"

"The control switch is inside your arm cannon, there's a button near the end of the handle. You should be able to press it with your thumb." Following his instructions, she stretched her thumb over. Sure enough, there it was. "You're going to jump out of the building and use the jets in your boots to boost you up to the next floor."

"You're nuts!" There wasn't any time left though as she closed on the opening. Celes slid the rest of the way to the edge, reducing her forward momentum, then jumped up and out. She twisted in the air, flung her legs out, and hit the button. Boosters flared to life on her feet, lasting only a second and forcing her up.

Celes worried she wouldn't make it, that she'd crash into the floor of the next level and tumble back out into open air. It surprised her when she bounced off the ceiling of the next floor up before tumbling onto the ground in a heap.

"Oh, wow," Edgar said as she pushed off the cold floor. "I'll need to look into the regulator for your propulsion system apparently. I wouldn't recommend hitting the button quite so hard next time."

Despite the rough landing, she grinned. "Can I do that again to skip more floors?"

"Careful, Celes," Edgar chuckled, "you almost sound like you're enjoying yourself."

She rolled her eyes. "You make me sound like some sort of ice queen."

"Well you are sort of a regal beauty."

Celes blew out a breath as she backed away from the edge, giving herself some room. "This is why I can't talk to you."

"Because you're helpless before my obvious charms?"

Her lips twitched up, "You keep telling yourself that." Then she took off, racing for the edge and a repeat of the previous jump. Tapping the button this time, instead of jamming her thumb down on it, sent her up just over the next floor. Her armor ground against the stone as she slid to a stop.

Celes surveyed the front of the suit as she got up. "Think it's going to need a new paint job. Maybe something other then blue."

Edgar scoffed. "Are you mocking my stylistic integrity?"

"Yes."

He harrumphed and she could just imagine him sulking. "I'm not painting it pink you know."

"What? No," she wrinkled her nose. "Just add some white, or black, or silver. I'd even settle for a darker blue." Scuffling drew her attention as robots scurried into the room. "Maybe we'll talk about this later." Celes headed for the next floor, more then happy to make of the jump jets again. She tried for somewhere in the middle with the switch this time, and almost landed on her feet after the jump, stumbling over a hard at work robot. She glared and kicked it over the edge.

There was less activity on this floor then the others, and less actual building. More steel beams and fewer complete walls obscured her view, though it wasn't open enough to see clear from one side to the other. Sound echoed up from the floors below – she wasn't alone – but the robots shouldn't be smart enough to follow her so far.

She breathed deep and stretched her stiff muscles. "So, where-"

SLAM!

The building vibrated with force and Celes dashed behind a steel beam, her armor shrieking against it. Flinching at the noise, she held her arm cannon up and ready, her breathing shallow.

"Celes? What was that?"

She didn't respond as she scanned for threats – or whatever shook a ten story building – but nothing moved into view. Did it come from below? It didn't sound like it, but she wasn't in a hurry to meet whatever caused it.

"Celes?"

"I'm here," she replied, her voice low. "Whatever caused that noise shook the whole place. I don't see it though."

"Alright, let me just... There. Looks like the source of the impact came from the same floor you're on. That's where the shock waves started." Celes didn't like where this was going. "In fact, overlaying that scan with the location of the energy source you're looking for puts them in the same place."

Of course. "How convenient," Celes groaned.

"Troublesome is more like it. I'm not crazy about you going after something with that much power."

"And you think I'm jumping for joy?" Celes shook her head as she moved from the pillar. "This is what I'm here for though. No point standing around."

"Yes well, just be careful, alright?"

"I thought you had complete faith in your mega-suit. Or do you think I'm not up for this?"

"You're basically field testing that suit right now," Edgar reminded her. "If anything were to fail, the suit's more likely then you. I didn't choose you just for your pretty face after all."

Celes smiled. "That's both flattering and disconcerting."

He laughed. "I'm just warning you, don't be reckless. Relax."

"Because I'm the reckless one here."

Edgar cleared his throat. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Sure you don't," she said, smirking as she peered around a corner. "Oh, hold on, there's a door here."

"What? There's barely walls there."

Celes crept forward, "It's definitely a door." It wasn't like any office door she'd ever seen though. "Looks industrial. There's no hinges on the sides and no handle." There wasn't any security or guard, just the single, very out of place door. "Maybe it rolls up?" A thought struck her. "Is the energy source on the other side?"

"It looks that way. It's definitely in front of you at least. Good guess."

"Wasn't much of a guess," Celes said. "This is the first door I've seen in this place, and it happens to be on the same floor as whatever I'm here for. A rookie could make the connection."

"So what now?"

"Now-" Celes moved closer to the door, startled when it slid open. She stared through, her muscles tensed. "The door's open."

"What?" came Edgar's alarmed voice. "I didn't even know you were trying yet. What happened to being careful?"

"It opened by itself, I hadn't touched it yet."

Edgar sighed. "Alright, well they're inviting us in. It'd be rude to leave now."

"Always the gentleman," Celes muttered.

"Thank you for noticing."

The whole exchange was ridiculous – wandering into possible danger and commenting on manners – but it gave her something lighter to focus on and calmed her as she walked through the door. The room inside was more of the same at first look – unfinished floors with exposed beams – but walls enclosed the area into a complete room. Piles of materials and tools littered the floor, with blocks of stone and chunks of metal stacked up to towering heights. No ceiling hung overhead for at least a couple floors, and it gave the area a cavernous feeling. A wall split the room in half, blocking her sight of the far portion, but what she could see was empty of life – human or robot.

Edgar's voice broke into her thoughts, "You're right on top of the energy signal."

Cautious, Celes slipped up to the center wall and peered around. More evidence of a building under construction filled the other half of the room. "There's nothing here," she said, frowning.

"That was the last known location. Hold on, let me run the scan again."  
"You better not tell me to go jog around the building."

"Not this time. I'm just going to measure the distance between you, since we can assume the general area hasn't changed."

"And if there's a lot of distance between us?"

He paused. "Then I might need you to take a walk."

Celes groaned. "I feel like you're working out of your parents basement."

"I wish," Edgar scoffed. "You know the kind of equipment I could get my hands on there? This lab is a shoe box comparatively."

She blinked. That wasn't the answer she'd expected. "What?"

"What?" he repeated. "Don't you know who my parents are?"

There wasn't much she did know about him. Celes wasn't interested in people unless it was part of her job. What did she know about him then? His name, of course – Dr. Edgar Light – and his work as a robotics engineer. What about his parents though? His last name was Light, so...

Nope, nothing.

She pushed it aside, she'd find out later. "Where's that signal?"

"Scanning now." Sighing, she resigned herself to waiting. The room provided some security at least, and she hopped onto a pile of steel beams for a seat. Even if the suit did most of the work, all the running around was tiring. Celes stretched her legs and leaned back to stare up into the open ceiling. It wasn't much to look at, it didn't open into the sky, but the wind blew through the open walls above, whistling through the tight spaces.

Something flew out into view, breaking the peaceful image. It was too far away to make out, probably just another robot going about its work. Being airborne made many tasks so much easier.

"Scan complete," Edgar spoke up, dragging Celes' gaze down as her attention shifted. "The signal's around seventy feet away, give or take."

Celes frowned. "Is that even in the building?"

"Wait, now it's fourty feet – it's fast! Twenty-five feet!" Celes jumped to her feet, her arm cannon swinging up and ready to fire. Surely it'd make noise moving that fast?

"Ten feet!"

That was in the room, yet she saw nothing. "I think your scanner-"

Movement flashed and she spun in time to see something fall onto the floor. The crash echoed off the walls and the floor shook as Celes grabbed onto her former seat to keep from falling over. The thing stood to its full height – easily twice Celes' own – with an ease that belied its past action. It just jumped who knew how many floors and it wasn't even phased.

And it stared right at her.

Celes leveled her blasted at it with trepidation. "Edgar, what is that?"

"That's the foreman," Edgar said, and Celes didn't like the hesitation to his words. "Gutsman."

The room was enclosed except for the ceiling and the door she came through. More then that, objects she saw as cover before were now weapons – she had no doubt this robot could swing them with little effort. She tensed, but didn't move. "How much trouble am I in?"

"Don't let him get a hold of you," Edgar advised. "You're faster then him, but he's strong enough to-" He paused, took a breath. "Just don't let him catch you."

Celes grimaced. That didn't sound good. "You know its' specs?"

"I should. I built him."

Her time ran out when Gutsman leaped toward her. She dashed out of the way, causing the robot to miss by a wide margin, but the tremor from its landing still made her stumble. Keeping it in sight would keep her alive though, and she spun on it without delay. Gutsman turned toward her, its focus disturbing. "It's one of yours?"

"One of my best. I can't get into his system though, something's blocking me."

"Why didn't you tell me about this earlier?" Celes snapped.

"I didn't want to worry you."

"Well that was a great idea," Celes snapped as she circled Gutsman, gauging its reaction. It turned in time with her.

"Calm down," Edgar soothed. "Gutsman may be one of my best works, but the mega-suit is my best work, and you're the one best suited to wear it." Celes set her jaw, but didn't respond. Was he being honest or just flattering? "Go on and shoot him."

Her brow twitched. "You're okay with me destroying your robot?"

"I'm okay with you disabling my robot," Edgar corrected. "He doesn't break that easy."

"It's not my fault if I break it." She aimed her blasted and fired. The energy shot soared across the room, caught Gutsman in the chest, and broke apart. There wasn't a mark on the robot's armor, and no trace the attack just happened, except Gutsman's brow drew down. Celes eyes widened – the robot looked almost angry.

"Well that was ineffective," Edgar mused.

"Really, you think?" Gutsman reached over as Celes spoke, its hand gripping a ten foot steel beam and lifting it overhead like a javelin. Celes cursed, flinging herself to the side as Gutsman hurled the beam. She expected a crash, not the shrieking sound that followed. Picking herself up from the ground, she snapped a glance behind to check the damage.

Her jaw dropped – the beam pierced straight through the wall and lodged there.

She felt as much as heard Gutsman jump, and she was off running without hesitation. Mid step she spun, her wrist twisting in the blaster as she turned the handgrip. Energy gathered there, emitting light like a beacon as it grew brighter, and when Gutsman came down, she pulled the trigger before his shock wave could throw off her aim. She watched as the blast slammed into Gutsmans' chest in a burst of energy that exploded instead of dissipating. Before she could cheer, the light cleared - a slight black streak was all the marred its metal body.

Celes backed up a step. "I think you misjudged this suit, Edgar." Gutsman grabbed hold of the beam lodged in the wall, yanking it out in one tug.

"No," Edgar spoke, his voice soft, "I built Gutsman for hard, potentially dangerous work, but not combat. That shouldn't have happened."

"Well it did! So now what?" Again Gutsman hurled the beam, roaring at a deafening volume as it did. Celes rolled aside as the beam flew by. She jumped up without stopping her roll and swung her arm cannon back up - but Gutsman wasn't there. Panic flashed through her nerves. "Where-"

"Up, Celes!"

Celes snapped her gaze up, and there was Gutsman, bearing down on her mid-jump. Her eyes grew wide with realization – Gutsman used the steel beam to distract her and the noise of the roar to cover its leap. That wasn't the thinking of a worker bot. That was combat tactics.

However the robot pulled it off, it left Celes with no time to get out of the way. She threw her arms up to block as the giant fist came down on her, but she might as well try to stop an avalanche. Gutsman hit with both power and weight, and her knees buckled on contact. Fear flashed through her as the impact crushed her guard and pressed down on her, driving the breath from her before shattering the floor. Her stomach flipped as she fell, propelled straight down by the punch. The next impact made her gasp, forcing air back into her lungs as her body bounced before settling.

Everything hurt. Her visor flashed a warning - Armor Integrity Compromised. She needed to get up, to get away from the freight train that hit her. Groaning, she rolled onto her back – nothing felt broken – and stared up at the jagged hole in the ceiling above her. Her heart pounded at seeing Gutsman staring down at her, and she pushed up from the floor, jaw clenched against the ache shooting through her. She had to move.

"...es!" A voice filtered through to her, roaring through the earpiece. "Celes! Answer me!"

"I'm here," Celes groaned. She stumbled to her feet and moved away from the hole. "Stop shouting."

Edgar blew out a loud breath. "Gods, you scared me. You alright?"

Pain hitched her breath before she could answer, and she grunted, "Relatively speaking."

"Is Gutsman coming after you?"

No sound alerted her, but she spared a glance back anyway. "Doesn't look like it."

"Alright. Can you make it back down the building?"

Through waves of robots eager to finish the job on her? She grimaced. "Do I have another option?"

"Only if you want to jump out of the building."

She stopped walking to ask, "Are you nuts?" Her words ended in a shriek as a sheet of metal slammed down in front of her, inches from her face. Bits of concrete sprinkled over her helmet in the seconds before she bolted toward the open exterior wall. That metal beam nearly impaled her – Gutsman was out to finish the job. She wasn't about to stick around. "I hope you have a plan!" Then she jumped.

Edgar's voice mixed with the wind roaring past her ears. "Well I'd hoped to have more time to go over it-"

"Shut up and tell me what to do!"

"Charge your mega-buster and use both it and your jump jets to slow your impact."

"That's your plan?" Celes snapped, twisting her wrist to start the charge.

"Just do it! Now!"

She was going to die, and it would be his fault. A growl escaped as she slammed the jet button, trying to angle herself along the ground instead of straight into it. Spinning around, she aimed her blaster at the ground between her legs and fired. With any luck, she'd slide across the ground and roll to a stop.

When she hit, there was no sliding, and no rolling. She rebounded off the ground, crashed into the next building over, and slammed to a stop against an inside wall. Her eyelids flickered and closed, her head swimming.

Should've taken her chances with Gutsman.


	2. Chapter 2 - An Explosive Encounter

A/N: It should be made clear in this chapter, but I'll point out that yes, Celes is human in this story. Not a robot.

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VI or any of its characters or rights. Nor do I own Mega Man or its setting.

* * *

 **Chapter 2**

Celes woke later, her head groggy as the world came back into focus. Lights hung from the metal ceiling above her and the hum of machinery filled the room. Her body shifted and swayed, moved from some outside motion – she must be on Edgar's hovercraft. How'd she get there? Celes shifted, trying to sit up, but an ache flashed through her muscles and she groaned instead.

"You awake now?" Footsteps accompanied the voice, and she rolled her head to see Edgar there.

"You came to get me?"

He flashed a grin. "Of course, I couldn't leave you out there alone. It'd be rude of me."

A small smile pulled at her lips. The light overhead flashed off her visor as she shifted – she still had the suit on. "How's the suit?"

"Dead in the water," Edgar said with a shrug. "It couldn't take those hits one after another, but it held out enough to keep you in one piece, that was enough.

"Now that you're awake though, let's get it off you. Hit the release." It was an odd quirk that the suit wouldn't come off unless she did it from inside – a safety precaution Edgar called it. He assured her that drastic measures could be taken to remove it, if necessary, but from the way he said it, she hoped to never find out.

Celes flicked the switch and the suit split apart, seams appearing in metal that looked solid while armored pieces unlocked and fell away. Edgar picked up the larger pieces and moved them onto the table while Celes worked her arms out of the suit. Moving made her head throb though, and she fell back onto the padded bed. Lights danced in the fringes of her sight.

"Whoa there," Edgar laid a hand on her shoulder, "take it slow. You've got a bit of a concussion."

She sighed and closed her eyes, letting Edgar slip her legs out of the suit. Released from her hold, the rest of the suit fell to the floor, leaving her in the skintight under-suit that acted as a barrier and connector to the main suit – or so Edgar told her. He probably just liked seeing her in it.

Celes cracked her eyes open to watch him as he went about gathering the fallen pieces. Despite how he acted at other times, Edgar never teased or stared at her while she only had the skinsuit on. Perfect gentleman half of the time and habitual flirt the rest. Edgar made no sense.

Now she was the one staring, so she shifted her gaze elsewhere. It wasn't her first time in the hovercraft, Edgar often used it as a mobile engineering work space, but it amazed her how the place changed every time. Edgar sure stayed busy.

"I'm sorry about what happened back there," Edgar said, his voice soft. "I thought I knew what I was sending you into."

An image of the robot – Gutsman – flashed through her mind with vicious intensity, and she forced it down. "What did happen?"

Edgar shook his head. "I designed Gutsman. I built him. I know everything he's capable of – or I thought I did." Frustration lined his face when he glanced back at her. "He's different now. Stronger, tougher."

Celes blew out a breath. "So you think someone upgraded it? Engineered this whole thing? All the robots going crazy?"

"That I don't know," Edgar replied. He leaned back against the table to face her, the motion sending parts rattling aside. "It's certainly possible, but knowing that something changed Gutsman just tells us someone else might be involved, not necessarily orchestrating it all."

Grunting, Celes pushed up from the bed, waving Edgar off before he could jump to her aid. She sat on the edge, legs dangling over and eyes pinched shut. It took a few concentrated breaths to dispel the wave of dizziness. "It wasn't just the robot's armor. Whoever messed with it didn't just strengthen the body, they changed its programming."

Edgar leaned forward. "What do you mean?"

"Foreman robots don't get combat training. Gutsman was tactical when it attacked me. Strategic."

Silence settled between them for a moment before the ache in her head subsided and she looked up at him. Edgar ran a hand through his long hair and grimaced. "If they changed his purpose, turned him into a fighter, it could explain the aggression in the rest of the robots."

"It'd make sense."

Edgar sighed again and pushed away from the table. "Alright, I'll contact the mayor and get to work repairing your suit. Why don't you get some more rest?"

Celes shook her head, or started to before pain lanced through it. "Maybe when we get back. Relm's flying?" At Edgar's nod, Celes eased off the bed. "I'll see how she's doing then." It was an excuse, but she didn't like hanging around when Edgar was working, and she didn't feel like sleeping.

The cockpit was a small, simple area. Two seats faced the control panel and occupied most of the space, while the floor in between was claimed by their dog, Interceptor. He was Relm's friend foremost, but they'd all grown attached to him, and now he was as much a part of the group as any of them. When she walked in, the doberman raised his head to look, thumping his tail in greeting.

As Celes reached down to pat Interceptor, Relm glanced back from the pilot's seat. The girl's face lit up. "Celes!" Relm jumped out of the chair, bumping the controls in her haste. Celes braced against the wall as the ship tilted, and a shout rose from the backroom as Relm dashed back into the seat. "Sorry!" Relm shouted back as the ship leveled out.

An ache spread through Celes side at the jarring movements and she grimaced. "Thanks for that."

"You're standing, you'll live. Lemme just turn on auto-pilot." Relm flicked a few controls before jumping out of the seat again, hopping over Interceptor, and throwing her arms around Celes, who grunted at the impact. "I was worried you were hurt."

"I am hurt, stop squeezing," Celes countered, though she returned the embrace. "I'm fine though, just banged up."

"See? Shouldn't have gotten rid of me." Relm dropped back into the pilot seat, so Celes took the other, a pleased groan slipping out as she did. She'd only just stood up and it was already nice to get off her feet. "I'm a way better spotter then Edgar."

Relm might be right, but Celes wasn't going to admit it. The younger girl took overconfidence to another level. Celes leaned back in the chair, her eyes drifting to the open sky through the cockpit window. "Where're we heading?"

"Home, since you're up." Celes looked at Relm, curious, and the girl continued. "If you didn't wake up, we were going to take you to the hospital."

"Glad I woke up then," Celes grunted. "I've seen enough hospitals."

"Before you joined us, right?" Relm's voice rose in intensity as she glanced between Celes and out the cockpit window. "When you were a soldier?"

Celes looked away. She didn't want to remember those years. "Yes."

"Was it hard? Fighting in the robot wars?"

"No," Celes said with a shake of her head. "The fighting was the easy part."

"What-"

"I don't want to get into it."

Relm clamped her mouth shut. "Oh," she said, turning back to face the controls. "Okay."

A sigh slipped from Celes' lips. She hadn't meant to snap at the girl, but Relm wouldn't have let it go, never let anything go. Neither Relm nor Edgar knew specifics about her past, and Celes had no desire to fill them in. They knew she'd been in the Mega City military, and that was enough. The fact that she had answered to President Gestahl himself – head of the military and guiding hand to the Mayor of Mega City – wasn't something they needed to know.

Silence grew between them and Celes glanced over again to see Relm staring straight ahead, focused on a task that took her no focus. Another sigh escaped Celes, this one deepening to a growl – none of Celes' issues were Relm's fault, and she shouldn't take it out on the girl. "I'm not proud of some things I did," Celes said, breaking the silence as she tugged at her hair. "I don't like talking about any of it. With anyone."

Relm glanced at her. There must've been so many words waiting to spill out, so many questions – Celes knew the girl well enough to guess that – so Celes blinked in surprise when Relm asked, "Not even with Edgar?"

"Why would Edgar be any different?" Celes asked. "I haven't known him much longer then you. We met, what- a week ago? Two weeks?"

When Relm looked over again, there was a sparkle in her eye Celes didn't like. "Well yeah, but you two flirt all the time."

Celes gaped. "I don't flirt!"

Relm giggled. "Then why're you blushing?"

"I'm not!" The heat in Celes' face discredited her words, and she crossed her arms with a harrumph. "I don't blush."

"Yeah, okay," Relm snickered.

Celes cursed her fair skin. "Edgar flirt's with everyone, and you're just boy crazy."

Another laugh from the young girl, "That's true. Oh!" Relm jumped in her seat and the craft bounced with her. "There's this boy in school that's so cute! I mean, he looks like he was raised by wolves or something – his hair and clothing are always a mess – but it just makes him more wild and alluring." Celes quirked her brow – alluring? "He goes by Gau, but I think that's a nickname or something."

"And I thought I told you to stay away from that boy," Edgar popped his head in and Relm flinched. "I've heard about the fights he gets in. He's nothing but trouble."

"But he won those fights!" Relm whined. "Against boys in high school!"

Edgar frowned, warning in his tone when he said, "Relm."

"Ugh, fine." Slumping into the seat with her arms crossed, Relm pouted. Without a hand at the controls, the hovercraft tilted.

Celes glanced at the sloping ground out the front window. "Uh, Relm-"

"It's fine," the girl responded, kicking at the auto-pilot switch as she did. The craft leveled out. "This thing flies itself."

Edgar gave an exaggerated sigh and looked to Celes. "I've got a few ideas to upgrade your suit, but I have to get it back to the lab to test or implement any of it. Maybe come back tomorrow?"

"That's fine. Just drop me at my place, I'm not walking home in this." Celes gestured to herself, causing Edgar to glance down as well. He looked away again and cleared his throat.

"Right. We'll have to keep some clothes on board for you." Turning around, Edgar wandered into the back. "Drop Celes off first then, Relm."

Relm didn't reply, and Celes settled into her seat to wait. It was a shame she broke the suit on her first run out, but only a day to fix it? Edgar either overstated the damage or was entirely too good at his work. Seeing the kind of things he created, she guessed the latter. A good thing too, since she couldn't wait to get back out there. After leaving the military, this was exactly the kind of work she needed. Combat was something she excelled at.

"That was smooth."

Celes looked up at the smiling girl. "What was?"

"Bringing attention to yourself like that! I bet Edgar's back there imaging what you look like in that suit."

It might've been debatable before, but now Celes could feel the raging blush. She covered it with a growl of anger. "Relm! That's untrue and inappropriate!"

Relm giggled. "Oh come on, I hope I look half as good as you when I get older. Even I know you look amazing in that. Flaunt it!"

Celes leaned forward, rubbing a hand over her forehead. This was one argument she seemed destined to lose. Everything was attraction and romance to Relm, and Celes just didn't have the weapons to fight back.

* * *

#

A night of rest left Celes feeling world's better, though her head liked to ague the point with bouts of dizziness if she moved too sharply. It was deal with it or stay in bed though, which was how she found herself at Edgar's.

Celes walked down into Edgar's workshop after being let into the building by a serv-bot. She'd been there before, but it felt more official the first time. It was right after the competition Edgar propositioned Mega City to put together, and they'd called her in to discuss the results. It still amazed Celes the lengths all parties went to just to help one roboticist, no matter how brilliant. There had to be more to it.

She shook the thought away. Curious or not, if they didn't want to tell her, she didn't need to know. Everyone had secrets.

The workshop opened up as the serv-bot led her around the corner. Pieces and parts of things she couldn't imagine littered the tables, and even some of the chairs. Half built robot chassis lay separate from the rest, while drawings and calculations covered the many whiteboards around the room. Large equipment was here and there, situated near the aforementioned tables and used for when he went from planning to development, or so she imagined. Among it all stomped a robot taller then any of them, its head clearing the eight foot ceiling by a small margin. Celes flashed back to Gutsman on seeing the large machine, but when it turned her way she felt nothing of the intimidation she did with the other – which was odd in itself. Robots weren't alive, so why did Gutsman give off any feeling at all?

"Ah, Celes," Edgar appeared, winding his way among the chaos strewn around the room. "Glad you're here, the suit's fixed up and ready for you to test it out."

Celes smiled and shook her head. "You really managed to fix it in one day?"

"You doubted me?" Edgar gave a dramatic gasp. "I'm hurt. I had it fixed before bed last night I'll have you know." He waved off her surprise. "Anyway, that's not the best part. I spent all morning on improvements and adjustments – you brought the skinsuit, right?" Celes pulled down her shirt collar, revealing the suit beneath. "Perfect! Go on into the back and suit up so we can try it out!"

Edgar was like a child when it came to his work, and Celes suppressed a laugh. "You act like this'll be a first for you. You made it, you know."

He rolled his eyes and moved next to her, putting his hand on her shoulder to half guide, half push her on. "Of course I made it, but I developed the suit to your specifications. No one can wear it but you, so I can't test it without you."

No wonder he was so eager. "Alright, I get it. Now stop dragging me." Edgar released her and she continued on into the next room. Thankfully, she didn't need assistance getting the suit on, it was bad enough dressing down to the skinsuit without having another person's hands all over her.

Celes found the suit standing against the wall of a much cleaner, more organized room. Objects still sat in places around the room, but out of the way. The room felt more like an actual work area for an acclaimed roboticist then the main area from before, but what did she know about being a scientist? Combat strategy and robotic development were light years apart.

When she stepped into it, the suit felt snug against her skin, and once she got the rest of the way inside it sealed closed around her, fitting even better then she remembered. Edgar did mention it was tailored to her, something he must've improved upon after her first trip out. Once she got the helmet on and booted up she stepped down off the ledge, marveling again at how easily it moved when just moments before it was standing rigid against the wall. Now the metal moved and conformed to her like it was normal clothing. It was a soldier's dream gear.

"Good, you're all suited up," Edgar's voice rang out through the earpiece, startling her. That was the downside to the suit, she was never alone. "Come on out here, I want to show you a few new things."

Heaving a sigh, Celes headed out into the main area where Edgar waited. She crossed her arms as he looked her over. "Couldn't have waited until I came out on my own?"

Edgar closed in on her, "Just testing the microphone." He circled her, just once but enough to push her comfort level. Celes was never sure what Edgar was thinking. He switched from engineer to ladykiller at will. "I don't see any problems. It fits well?"

Too well. "It fits fine."

"Fine?" he frowned. "It should fit perfectly. I'll have to recheck the measurements."

Her measurements, he meant. Celes groaned, "Fine, yes, it fits perfectly. Like it was made for me."

Edgar gave her a small smile. "Because it was. You shouldn't be embarrassed. I made the suit a thing of genius, but you," he stepped back and gestured to her, "you make it a thing of beauty."

Celes rolled her eyes. "You're incorrigible."

"I only speak the truth. Now then," he swept back over to his workstation, "let me show you what your improved suit can do." Edgar tapped at his screen and a small circle appeared in the corner of her visor. "What you just noticed is your radar. The dot in the center is you, the green dot is me, and the scattered yellow dots are the active robots here."

"Huh," Celes looked it over, noting all the points as he mentioned them, "you took yesterday's problem to heart."

"We can't always be there to watch your surroundings, and I believe you're better suited to monitoring threats for yourself."

"How does it identify the different signal's?"

"It's all integrated into your system," he said, waving at her visor. "People and robots are easy to separate, but there's also a threat identification built in. If you recognize a signal as a threat, the dot'll turn red."

Celes frowned. "That sounds dangerous, what if it makes a mistake?"

"Have a little faith, Celes. It's just a visual indication of your own perception. If you change your mind about something, the color will change to match."

"What?" Celes snapped her gaze to him. "Mental recognition? The military doesn't have anything like that, how do you?"

Edgar shrugged, but a smile played over his face. "Well it's my own design, but it's still in development. Yours is the first, fully functional model. There's more though!" He spun back to his screen, waving her over. Celes still frowned, not settled by his lack of concern. The tech he was talking about, and putting in her suit, was beyond cutting edge.

He was talking again, and she focused on his screen as a simulation came up. "This is the really interesting stuff. I designed the core of your suit for limitless advancement. What you've been working with – the mega-buster and jump jets – are only the very basics. Now watch this." As he flicked through commands and menus, an image of the mega-suit filled the screen. "So this is your basic setup, but if I add in another core," a small yellow orb appeared on screen before merging with the suit, changing the colors from shades of blues to yellows, "the suit changes, gaining power."

"Gaining power how? And why'd it change color?"

"The how is the best part!" Edgar turned away from the screen to face Celes, his face glowing with excitement. "It all depends on what power the suit absorbs. So in this simulation, I set the power type to electricity," with a tap at the screen, Edgar made the suit there fire off a bolt like a spark, "and voila, your mega-buster changes to this new type of power."

Celes shook her head, trying to comprehend it all. "Just like that? I get hit with lightning or whatever and I can suddenly use it?"

"Well, no, not the actual power itself," Edgar rolled his neck and shoulders, looking less comfortable then a moment before. "Your suit integrates the power core's of other similar systems."

There was something he wasn't saying. "So I have to bring the core back here for you to work into the suit? And what's a similar system?"

"You know how I mentioned my best works on the last mission? Well those particular robots were rudimentary versions of your suit's design. Their core's would work."

Celes narrowed her eyes. "You ignored my first question."

Edgar sighed. "No, you wouldn't bring it back here. The core will merge into your suit on touch."

"You want to mix foreign systems into mine?" she asked through gritted teeth, her voice rising. "And you're telling me that somehow the metal will just combine into the suit?" Celes spun away, shaking her head. "Edgar, that's insane."

"No," his voice was slow and calm, "that's science."

"A science that only exists for you? Even the suit is years ahead of anything I've ever heard of, and now this?"

"Celes," he waited until she turned to look at him, her scowling face clashing with his confident one. "You're right, the world doesn't have any of this yet, but I've devoted my life to this work. Please, trust me on this. I wouldn't dare put you in any danger." Celes gave him a pointed look and he cleared his throat. "Besides the whole sending you off to fight thing I mean. That's a danger you know though. I promise my tech will never hurt you."

Edgar looked more serious in that moment then she'd ever seen him. Combined with the feeling in his voice, it was rather embarrassing, and Celes looked away, unable to match his gaze. "Fine, but I want to know these kind of things. If I'm part of this, I want to know what I'm part of."

"So you want to know more about me?" Edgar asked, his voice losing its serious edge. "I've been told I write a mean net profile."

Celes sighed, the tension of the moment breaking. Dealing with Edgar was tiring. "I'll pass on that. Can we get back to how this whole core absorbing this is useful? I mean, how many different core's could you possibly have out there?"

Edgar scratched his head and chuckled "Well, all this stuff isn't cheap, so I've been known to do a commission or two... or more."

Celes stared at him. She probably didn't want to know, but, "How many is more?"

"I'd have to pull up my records to really get a precise number."

"Edgar."

"Around twenty," he relented without looking at her. "Maybe more."

"Twenty!" Celes gaped. "I thought this tech was new!"

"New-ish," Edgar corrected. "I've been experimenting with it for some time, and the best way to do that is through practice."

"So none of this is secret, the tech is out there. Why hasn't anyone else used it? Reverse engineered yours, or whatever." Celes paused before giving him a hard look. "They haven't, have they?"

"They haven't," Edgar confirmed, "because it's not that easy to do. Without knowing what I know, I imagine they haven't been able to figure any of it out."

"Because you're just smarter, is that it?"

Edgar shrugged. "I'm good at what I do, but I'm no natural genius. I love my work and I work hard doing it. Maybe they just don't."

Celes sat down, shaking her head. Talking to Edgar was changing her entire view of the world. She knew military and government kept secrets, but did the commercial sector have their own? Was Mega-City flooded with secret, super advanced robots? Or was Edgar just smarter on his own then entire teams of other scientists?

Then there was the worst thing to consider – what if Gestahl already had this kind of technology? Even if he hadn't managed to replicate it yet, nothing would keep him from trying, and eventually he would succeed. Gestahl would create an army of Gutsman robots or mega-suit armored soldiers, and then nothing would stop him or his ambitions. She couldn't let that happen – and she might actually have the power to stop it.

"Is that the plan then?" Celes asked. "Find these robots of yours, then destroy them and absorb their cores?"

"Not-" Edgar frowned. "Well, I guess that's not too far off. You make it sound genocidal though."

"Edgar, they're just robots."

He said nothing, but his mouth twisted. "Alright," Edgar relented, "but let's take this one step at a time. Gutsman's the problem."

Celes nodded, leaning back into the chair. "Right, even at full charge, my blaster barely scratched him." She scoffed. "If he wasn't a robot, I'd even say it made him mad."

Edgar looked back to his screen, tapping at it. "That's why I made these improvements. Directly powering up the mega-buster would take too long, so we needed something else." He leaned toward her, steepling his fingers in front of his smile. "We need the power of Bombman."

Her brow twitched. "Bombman? Really? Let me guess, it throws bombs?"

His posture deflated. "It was a label more then a name, alright? It just kinda stuck."

"No, no," Celes said, crossing her arms, "it makes perfect sense. Hey, while we're at it, I'm wearing a mega-suit, why don't you just call me Megaman?"

Celes wore a smirk of triumph. Edgar had an answer to everything, winning a verbal bout against him was sweet – or would've been, had he not looked up at her with bright eyes and a smile. "Really?" Edgar asked. "You wouldn't mind?"

She grit her teeth. "You're not calling me Megaman."

Edgar cleared his throat. "Right, of course not," he pushed up from his chair, straightened his jacket, and walked over to a large map on the wall. "A beautiful name like Celes suits you better, I'd say."

"Anyway," Celes sighed, blaming herself for sidetracking them, "you were talking about this Bomberman?"

"Bombman, yes. It's a robot I designed for demolition work. The bombs it uses should have plenty of power to break Gutsman's armor."

"Didn't you say these robots were commissioned? Are the owners just going to let me waltz in and wreck their robot?"

"I spoke with them earlier this morning to try and work something out. They've agreed to return Bombman to me on the condition that I develop a new version for them." Edgar flashed a smile over his shoulder. "So don't worry, they won't try to stop you. There were some imperfections in his system I wanted to work out anyway, and a rework will let me do just that."

The thought twisted at Celes' gut, and at her new formed plans. If Edgar just went around rebuilding every dangerous robot she destroyed, nothing would change. "Aren't these robots too dangerous?" she appealed to Edgar. "What if someone got hold of even one and reprogrammed it? Turned it against the city?"

Edgar held up a finger, swishing it as he tutted at her. "They're not nearly so fragile as that. I designed their systems to be self-contained – once they're activated, any outside influence is completely impossible. They can't be reprogrammed."

"Oh really," Celes deadpanned. "Didn't we agree someone had changed Gutsman?"

"No, that was simply the option you wanted to be true. We don't know what really happened to him."

"Why did you even give it as an option if you don't believe it's possible?"

Edgar fiddled with his collar. "I have to consider all options before I eliminate them."

"You just didn't bother to tell me you'd crossed that one off then, is that it?" Celes scowled.

"Until I could offer you some concrete proof-"

"Edgar, we just talked about this! Stop keeping things from me!"

"Alright, I'm sorry," Edgar said, his hands coming up in a placating gesture. "I'm sorry. I'll have to work on that." His apologetic look wasn't enough to remove her glare, but she unclenched her hands.

"Is there anything else you should fill me in on?"

Edgar shrugged, "Well, I don't like to say things without knowing I'm right."

"You think that's something I didn't know?"

"More of a lead in, really." He paused and took a long breath. "There's something different about the robots I make. Not all of them, just the ones we're talking about, the ones I create with these cores to be a kind of masters of singular purpose."

Celes nodded and, with effort, calmed her glare and posture. At least he was trying to talk to her. "Okay, so what's different about these robot masters?"

"I'm not entirely sure yet, they just feel like more then simple robots."

That could be his own hubris or connection talking – these were special robots using his unique tech after all. Either way, it didn't feel right to stomp on his feelings. Celes just shrugged, "You'll figure it out, so make sure you tell me when you do. Agreed?"

He bowed, snapping out his jacket with a flourish. "You have my word, lady."

She rolled her eyes. "Let's just go get this Bombman then."

* * *

#

The trip took them to the outskirts of Mega-City, where land was being cleared away. Terrain in the surrounding area rose and fell in cliffs and valleys, with ground made more of rock and stone then dirt. Trying to build anything out there would be pointless without leveling the land out first, which must be where Bombman came in. That much made sense before they even arrived.

What didn't made sense was the dour mood among the workers gathered there as Edgar and Celes made their way into the camp. Edgar contacted them ahead of time to work out the deal, and while it would slow down their work for awhile, they crew would come out ahead in the end with the reparations. Workers they passed wore faces of discontent, either angry or sad, and Celes matched every scowl and glare with one of her own. Nobody made a move toward them, but Celes didn't feel welcome.

The management waited for them further in, with Bombman standing behind them. It wasn't hard to recognize the robot for what it was, not with its round body and belt loaded with little fuses. No bombs though. Odd.

"Ah, Dr. Light," one of the two men greeted, his clothes a match for the always well dressed Edgar, "welcome."

Edgar shook the man's hand. "Thank you for your cooperation here, Mr. Larkin. I wouldn't ask this if it wasn't necessary."

Larkin nodded. "I understand. We've all heard of the riot down at the construction area. Messy business. Anything we can do to to help." Larkin's gaze shifted. "And who's this with you?"

"This is my new associate, Celes Volnutt."

Something flashed in the man's eyes. "The renowned soldier?"

"Retired," Celes responded.

"Ah, a shame. I've heard of your prowess in battle."

Celes clenched her fists to keep the expression from her face. The places Gestahl sent her, the people he had her fight, rarely held any sort of fair fight. Intimidation and slaughter all too often.

"Never fear, good sir," Edgar cut in before she could respond, "her skill won't go to waste. Celes is invaluable to my work."

A smile came back to Larkin's face, erasing whatever Celes had seen there. "I'm glad to hear that, Dr. Light. Now then, shall we get about the business at hand?"

Larkin stepped aside, but before they could move toward Bombman, the other man there blocked the way. "Just want to make sure," the man said, "you're going to replace what you're taking, right? And he won't be changed or harmed because of it?"

Celes frowned at the man's choice of words. Again, Edgar spoke up, "I will certainly replace the core, as agreed, just as soon as I develop a new one. However, being without his power core for so long will reset Bombman's programming to his default setting." Edgar sighed, his voice apologetic. "I'm afraid any additions made in his time here will be lost. He'll be just the same as when you first received him – only better, of course."

A storm came over the man's face and he spun on Larkin.

"No."

Whatever the man might've said died on his lips as everyone there turned to Bombman. Larkin broke the silence first as he frowned at the other man. "You altered its programming? You don't have the authority for that!"

The man glared right back. "I didn't-"

"No," Bombman said again, silencing the argument. "You will take nothing from me."

Edgar took a step forward, and Bombman took a step back. "It won't hurt you," Edgar said. "You'll just sleep for awhile. Nothing more."

Something changed then, as Bombman's brow came down to glare at Edgar. A shiver raced down Celes' spine at the familiar feeling. "No!" Bombman said again, its volume rising. "I will not!" Then it pulled back its arm as if to throw something and a large, black ball materialized in its hand., which it flung toward them.

Edgar rammed into her side, catching her off guard and knocking them both to the floor as he shouted, "Get down!"

The black thing soared past them and Celes flung Edgar away. "Edgar! What are you doing?"

Then the room exploded.

Dust hung in the air as rubble skittered across the floor around them. Edgar lay on the floor, blinking and shaking his head as Celes stood, protected by the stunning effects of the explosion. The entire back wall of the room had collapsed, with broken ceiling beams dangling over the twisted and broken remains of stone and metal.

"What- was that a bomb that thing threw?"

"Of course it was," Edgar answered, a little louder then necessary. "What did it look like?"

"Not a bomb!" Celes scowled, helping him up from the floor as she scanned the room. Bombman had backed away to the far side of the area, but the only way out was past her.

"Really?" Edgar asked, surprise in his voice. "Didn't you ever watch cartoons?"

She paused, then turned to him. "What on earth does that have to do with anything?"

She didn't get her answer. "That's the only warning you get," Bombman said, drawing her attention back. "Leave me alone!"

"Warning?" Celes snapped. "You nearly brought the building down on us! Now stand down and do as you're ordered!"

Thankfully Larkin and the other guy there were smart enough to get out of the way, as rather then standing down, Bombman materialized another bomb. "No!"

"Blast it, Edgar!" Celes snagged him by the collar and hauled him along as she dove for cover. Another explosion rocked the building and brought down another corner of the room. "Can't you make a normal robot?"

His response came as a halfhearted grumble, "Where would be the science in that."

Celes popped up from their cover and fired at the homicidal robot – she had to keep it from throwing more bombs or it would bury them all alive. "Just get out of here! And take the other two with you!" She didn't wait for an answer before leaping from cover. Edgar wasn't an idiot, he could take care of things so long as she gave him time to do it.

All the dust in the air hid Bombman from her, so she flicked her visor into scan mode, searching for robotic energy signatures – and found one not ten feet ahead of her. More concerning was the small, powerful energy beside the large source. Celes snapped off a shot at the small source.

A third explosion blasted her off her feet and across the room, slamming her against the far wall. Her knees buckled as she slid down the wall, but she shook off the hit, focusing on the fact that something able to literally create bombs out of thin air was trying to kill them all – and anyway, after jumping from a ten story building, what was a simple explosion?

An inane giggle slipped past her lips at the ridiculous thought.

Celes cleared her throat and crept over the debris covered floor. Her visor still showed the large energy source – Bombman no doubt – but showed no sign of another small source. Nor was Bombman moving. She took her time, covering the distance carefully and waiting for the dust to settle.

Once it did, she relaxed – just a breath – and moved closer to the fallen robot. Bombman lay flat out on the floor, grunting and groaning as it struggled to get up. Charred marks and cracks covered its body, with sparks flashing from beneath the surface in more then one place. Worse though, the robot's right arm was missing entirely, and frayed cables stuck out from the shoulder joint. Despite it all, Bombman glared up at her as she approached.

"Now," Celes said, leveling her blaster arm at the robot, "give it up."

A look of utter loathing came over Bombman's face. "They will all know what you've done here, human." The robot fell back to the floor as it held its left arm aloft. "And we will not give up."

A terrible feeling flashed through Celes even before the bomb materialized in the robot's left hand. She was too close, and it didn't need good aim to catch her in the explosion. Flicking her arm down, Celes fired at Bombman's arm, snapping it at the elbow. The bomb rolled to the floor beside it even as she spun away and vaulted over the nearest thing she could find. The explosion followed right behind, and it slammed into her cover, pushing it over onto her and sending them both sliding across the floor. Then everything went still.

Beneath the object, some sort of large equipment, Celes groaned. If not for the suit, she'd have been crushed. Her breath caught – Edgar. With a grunt of effort, Celes shoved the equipment off to the side and pushed to her feet. The ceiling was gone, along with a another wall – that the entire place hadn't collapsed yet seemed a miracle. Not the best end to a fight.

"Edgar!" Celes shouted, spinning as she surveyed the room. "Blast it, Edgar, answer me!" The sound of muffled voices made her turn to a far wall. The ceiling there had caved in, and a beam hung down against the floor, holding the chunk of rubble together. Celes dashed over and grabbed the whole thing, intent on lifting it, but it creaked and crumbled in a way she didn't trust to hold together.

"Celes?" Edgar's voice carried through her earpiece. "Celes? Are you there?"

Celes sighed in relief. "I'm here, and apparently you're alive under there."

"Is that concern I hear? Why Celes, you do care."

This blasted man. "I can still shoot you if you don't shut up." Edgar only laughed at her comment. She'd have to graze him one of these days, just to make her point. "You want me to leave you under there?"

A faint protest came through the earpiece. "Calm down," Edgar said, "she won't actually leave us. You're scaring Larkin, by the way."

"Sounds crowded."

"It's actually rather roomie in here, even with- what is your name anyway?" Edgar paused. "Ah, well, nice to properly meet you, Kyle.

"Wait, you're not pinned under this debris?"

"More trapped, really. It's blocking the only door out of this room."

Celes blew out a loud breath. Why'd she even bother to worry? "Then get away from the door and let me get you out."

It wasn't long until she heard Edgar reply, "All clear, beautiful lady."

Grabbing the beam with her hand, she fired her buster at the bend up in the ceiling. The metal flared red hot from the energy blast and snapped, its softened form unable to bear the weight. Celes stumbled forward before bracing and shoving the rubble off to the side – and taking out part of another wall in the process. Not like anyone would notice a bit more damage.

As the dust settled, the three men came into view, picking their steps with care through the debris. Celes glared at them each in turn. "What the hell did you make, Edgar?" He blinked, his smile drooping. "What kind of robot argues with and attacks people? Or blows itself up like that? It almost killed all of us because of some sort of identity crisis! Which is ridiculous since robots don't have an identity!" By the end, Celes was yelling more then anything, her hands flinging out in wild gestures as her chest heaved. Now that Edgar was safe, she wanted to kill him.

For his part, Edgar swallowed and dusted off his hands. "Things are, admittedly, going a little differently then expected." Celes glared harder. "We'll figure this out though. Later." When she opened her mouth to argue, he cut her off. "Where's Bombman?"

Celes growled but pointed, "What's left of it should be over there."

The third man, Kyle apparently, pushed past Edgar and Larkin, but didn't get far. The room beyond collapsed from the explosion, leaving a pile of rubble, and the man knelt at the edge of it all. His shoulders sagged. Celes caught a wisp of sound as the man spoke, but it was too quiet to make out. Ignoring the strange man, she turned back to Edgar. "Well now what? There's no way that robot isn't scrap."

"The core will still be there." Celes waited, expecting more, and after a pause, Edgar smirked and waved to the rubble. "Which means you need to get it out."

"Haven't you done enough?" The harsh snap from the other man cut them off before Celes could reply, and they both turned. Now red in the face, Kyle jumped to his feet, his every twitch and movement sharp. "You've buried him! At least leave him be!"

"Oh for the love of all," Celes swore, throwing up her hands. "It's a robot! Or was. Not your friend, or your coworker, or anything else. Get over it!"

"How can you still say that? After Bomber fought for his life against you?"

"And blew itself up!" Celes shot back at the man, but couldn't shake off his words. Something was wrong about the whole thing, and none of it made sense the way it should. A robot was a robot, and Bombman was a robot – so why didn't it act like one?

"Enough," Edgar's somber voice pulled her from the argument. "I know you have questions, Celes, and I'll answer them back at my lab." He shifted to the other man without waiting for a response. "And I'm truly sorry for your loss. I hadn't intended for it to go this way."

The words did little to calm the man. "Oh I heard how you intended for it to go. Bomber would've been dead either way, so you can just shove your apologies!"

Larkin stepped up between them and frowned at the man. "Now listen here-"

"Shove off, Larkin!" the man yelled and shoved Larkin back into Edgar. "I quit!" Then he turned and stomped from the room.

Celes stared after him, unsure what to make it the outburst. The guy seemed a little too attached. Did he really think Bombman was a friend?

Her attention shifted back as Larkin cleared his throat and tugged his shirt straight. "Well then," he turned to Edgar. "I apologize for the man's outburst."

Edgar waved the man off, but his eyes focused elsewhere. Thoughts raced behind those eyes, she'd seen that look often enough to know it. After a moment, he looked to her, then to the collapsed room. His lips twitched down. "We should finish up here."

Right, he wanted her to dig the robot out. With a sigh, she went to work, tossing bits of rubble off to the side and shifting larger pieces and lengths of support beams out of the way. Sweat crawled down her neck, the work tiring even with the suit's enhanced strength.

A light flashed beneath the wreckage, and she paused before digging her way toward it. It wasn't a reflection of sunlight, it was too clear for that. Chunks of stone tumbled away under her hands as more flickers of light seeped between them, until she shoved a piece aside and caused everything around the spot to scatter down the pile. From beneath rose the light, radiating from a crystal that hung in the air, its slow rotation sending streams of light flashing around the room.

Celes stared, amazed, as the crystal rose higher to hover before her eyes. It was the size of her head and as thick as her wrist – and utterly unlike anything she'd ever seen. Her voice came out in soft tones, "Is this the core?"

"Yes," Edgar answered. "It's called a Refractor."

She spared a glance his way. "What do I do with it?"

"Take it."

Her brow twitched. "Just grab it? That's it?" Edgar smiled and waved a hand toward the crystal in answer. It hung silent in the air before her, its slow spin defying gravity and physics alike, while she hesitated.

"It won't hurt you, Celes."

She scowled back at him, knowing he wore that irritating grin before she saw it. Then she snatched the crystal out of the air – and it burst into pure light that swirled for a breath before flowing up her arm. The suit glowed in its wake, and her skin tingled, warm like rays of sunlight poured over it. Information flashed across her visor faster then she could understand it. All of it grew stronger, more intense, until she couldn't see the room past the glow around her and her back arched with the feeling racing through the suit.

Then everything stopped.

Celes swayed forward and fought to get her balance. A hand caught her elbow and she looked up to see Edgar there. "What was that?" she asked through panted breaths, feeling winded and exhilarated all at once.

"That," Edgar began, "was your suit absorbing the foundation of the energy that created Bombman. It's a lot to take in at once. I imagine it bled over into your skinsuit a bit." He cocked his head at her as she straightened up. "How do you feel?"

"Amazing," Celes breathed – and promptly swatted Edgar with her free hand. "You could've warned me!"

Edgar danced away from her, rubbing the shoulder she hit. "I didn't know what it'd do!"

"You told me you did!"

"Well, I mean, I did," he said, backpedaling. "Of course I knew your suit would absorb it, I just didn't know how it would affect you... exactly." Her fist and jaw clenched in sync, and Edgar dropped the hands he'd raised in defense. Instead, he actually had the gall to move toward her. "It wouldn't have hurt you, Celes. I wouldn't dare risk it if I wasn't completely sure of that."

She should hit him again. He never told her more then just enough to get her to cooperate. Something in his eyes stopped her though, a feeling of sincerity to his words, and she felt the tension bleed out of her. Scowling at him would have to be enough. "Fine. So," Celes tried to remember their conversation from the lab, "I just have Bombman's ability now?"

"Yep, that was all you needed."

She waited a breath. "And? Is there a control switch for it somewhere?"

"No, that didn't seem like an efficient method. You already have enough controls to deal with, and your suit can hold any number of different abilities. The switch is voice activated. Just command the change."

Celes arched a brow – an expression that was becoming almost permanent around Edgar. Then she shrugged and took a breath. Might as well try it. "Switch to bombs."

Nothing felt different, nor was there any flash of light or energy, the suit merely changed colors at her words, its hues shifting from blue to black. As it settled, she held her arms out for a better look. The style was the same as before, with darker shades of color on the thick areas of her arms and legs, but the main colors were different. All in the blink of an eye.

Impressed despite herself, Celes marveled over the change. She'd have to test the bombs out sometime. "Switch to blaster."

Nothing happened. Celes frowned.

"Buster," Edgar said. "Mega-buster to be precise, but your suit'll react to buster just the same."

"But not blaster," she said, giving him another look.

"Well blaster would imply something closer to the standard hand gun's usable by anyone with a hand. Your buster is different."

Celes rolled her eyes. More likely he just wanted to name it. "Switch to buster." In a shift of hues, the suit turned blue again.

With the change, Edgar nodded, a satisfied grin on is face. "I think we're done here."

* * *

#

With Bombman's power in Celes' grasp, they wasted no time getting on their way. Again they sat in the hovercraft, waiting as they powered over the city with Relm at the controls. Not that it was idle time. Celes had come to the conclusion that Edgar didn't know the meaning of such a thing. He'd connected her to the craft's computers the moment they got back on board, his hands flying over the screens as he ran diagnostics – or so she assumed.

Celes eventually tired of the silence. "Everything okay, Edgar?"

"Of course," he said, flashing her a smile. "Just double checking the suit's systems before you go a second round with Gutsman."

Fighting the hulking robot again gave her a nervous feeling of anticipation. Much as she'd be glad for the rematch, the robot's power had been made quite clear last time. She flexed her right hand inside the buster. "You think this'll work?"

His hands paused as they flitted across his console, then pulled away as he turned to her. "I know no reason it wouldn't. Your bombs have more pure explosive power then your buster, even when charged," he assured her. "They'll crack Gutsman's armor."

His words, and the confidence behind them, eased her worries that she was rushing into a fight she couldn't win. Then her smile of thanks flattened into a more comfortable frown of annoyance. "How about you tell me what's wrong with your robots then?"

An expression to mirror hers crossed his face. "I wouldn't say it was something wrong-"

"Edgar."

He cut off at her growl and sighed. "Yes, they are different, both Gutsman and Bombman, and the others."

"How-"

"Guys!" Relm shouted from the cockpit.

"In a minute!" Celes called back. She wasn't about to have this answer put off again, and she kept her stare intent on Edgar. "How-"

Relm's voice cut her off again. "Don't get mad at me if you miss this!"

Edgar's apologetic shrug did nothing to calm Celes as she jumped up and stomped into the cockpit. "What?" she snapped.

"That!" Relm snapped back with a matching glare as she pointed at the video monitor. Though the volume was down, the headline across the screen and type of footage shown made it clear the girl had a news channel going.

She stopped Celes for this? "So-" Celes cut off as the details of the image filtered through her annoyance. Shots of destroyed pavement and half constructed buildings filled the scene, and the headline laid it out for her.

"Rioting robots disappeared," Edgar murmured from behind her, close enough that she jumped at the voice.

Surely the situation couldn't have changed so much in a couple days, could it? "You think they finished that tower they were so focused on?" Celes asked.

A frown crossed his face. "Even with the number of robots there, the blueprint for the tower called for thirty floors on top of the ten you saw half built. That would be an incredible pace."

"Then why..." Celes trailed off as she watched the news play by in near silence. More words scrolled along beneath the headline, their smaller font filling in more details of the coverage. With the dangerous robots now gone, the Mayor had promised to focus on the reconstruction of the city with the financial aid secured from interested groups. It seemed the whole disaster would soon be a memory – which did nothing to solve the deeper problem of a group of killer robots on the loose.

Celes looked to Edgar and was sure the unsettled expression on his face matched her own. "So what now?"

As he met her eyes, he smiled and shrugged. "I guess we'll be home in time for dinner."


	3. Chapter 3 - Plight and Plot

A/N: A much longer delay on this chapter, but here it is! I changed the format of the robot names for this chapter - Guts Man instead of Gutsman - to see which works better. Still undecided, but I'll probably go forward with the new format for now. Also, though I hope to get more written at a faster pace then I have been, if nothing else I plan to work on this for NaNoWriMo this year, so I'll have most of the story finished before the end of the year. Then again, with the amount of content I have rolling around my head, this story could end up being my longest yet.

Anyway, hope you enjoy it! Let me know!

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VI or any of its characters or rights. Nor do I own Mega Man or its setting.

* * *

 **Chapter 3**

Silence filled most of the trip back to the Edgar's lab. Celes still had questions, but there would be no shortage of things to discuss now. Might as well get it all out at once after they settled in. Some time to think over Guts Man's disappearance didn't hurt either.

After landing on the roof of Edgar's building, Relm set about locking it down. The girl was amazingly competent for her young age. Celes could almost forget there wasn't a veteran pilot at the controls – until Relm opened her mouth. The girl was very good at acting her age.

Once the craft's hatch lowered, Celes headed out first. "I'm going to put the suit back," Celes said. "Will you be in the main lab?"

Edgar nodded, the motion slow and distracted as he looked elsewhere. "That's fine, your clothes should still be in there for you to change into." She rolled her eyes – he didn't answer her question – but headed down to the suit's holding room.

* * *

#

Once the suit was locked away in its capsule, Celes found Edgar in his lab, tapping away the computer console. He didn't seem to notice her arrival, so she slipped up behind his chair and peered over his shoulder at the computer screen. Text flew across it as Edgar's fingers danced over the keyboard, and she skimmed over the words. It looked like a log. She caught Guts Man and Bomb Man referred to, and something about – was she reading that right?

"Evolving?" Celes was somewhat gratified to see Edgar jump clear of his seat at her voice. "Robots don't evolve."

"Celes! I-" Edgar glanced between her and the screen. The tension eased from his face as he sighed. "Well, I was going to talk to you about this anyway. Please, have a seat."

From anyone else, being told to sit before a conversation would've worried her. Edgar though didn't know how to be anything but the gentleman. "Alright," Celes said as she moved a stack of books and claimed their chair, "so talk."

Edgar cleared his throat. "Well... since you're not really part of the scientific community, you should know it's been my goal for years to develop a more advanced robot then those we're used to seeing around the city."

"Advanced how?"

"In every way," he said with a wide movement of his hands. "Ability, durability, competence, intelligence. I wanted to make robots that could go places and do things far too dangerous for humans. Robots who could learn and improve, maybe even move beyond their initial skill sets." A glow of enthusiasm lit his face as he spoke. "Robots who could even teach others! Imagine!"

Celes frowned – after seeing two such robots, she could imagine it all right. "You're talking about artificial intelligence."

"That was the idea, yes. Robots that needed no interface or instruction from an outside source. It's been the one greatest flaw across robotics – the inability for them to make the kind of important, snap decisions humans do every day. The kind that save lives and mark the difference between us."

"And the kind that are impossible for robots to make," Celes added. "People have been trying to create an AI for decades and more, I'm not so out of the loop that I wouldn't know that, but it's supposed to be impossible. No matter how well programmed it is, a robot still acts according to it's programming. Not its own thoughts."

Edgar nodded, conceding the point. "That is the difficulty, yes."

In the silence that followed, Celes looked at him. "But you think you've done it." His smile was answer enough. "How?"

"By finding a different way." He spun back to his computer and pulled up new screens. Lines of code flashed into view. "I keep track of all of my creations through the net. Now I can't see much, but I do have viewing access to their base programming. The code here on the left is Bomb Man's original code, as I wrote it," he pointed it out as he spoke, then shifted to point at the other text window, "and on the right is his code the day we encountered him."

It was all a mess of words on a screen to her, none of it making any more sense then any other part. Still, it didn't take a genius to grasp as what Edgar was pointing out. "They're completely different," Celes muttered before snapping her gaze down to his. "Is this even the same part of the code?"

"As close as I can make it," Edgar confirmed. "I focused on the same base block of code in each, not the line since there's far more lines in Bomb Man's new code. Even this single section is different enough that it was hard to find and compare."

"Someone changed it then," Celes said with a frown. "But what does that have to do with anything."

"No," Edgar said, holding up a finger against her protest. "As I said, these robots are stronger then that. I designed them to be completely impervious to outside influence after activation. Their core systems are isolated and untouchable."

"So..."

"So," he continued, "they weren't altered by an outside influence. They changed of their own accord."

She blinked at him. "Edgar, that's impossible. You can't expect me to believe that you developed some sort of sentient, super code."

"Well, no," he admitted with a loud sigh. "I can't take credit for that really. After all, programming isn't the aspect of robotics that I most excel at. I'd hardly call myself better then my top peers in the field."

The man made less and less sense by the second. "Edgar," she growled, feeling her patience slip, "get to the point."

"Here, let me show you." The windows of code collapsed from the screen and a new image jumped up to replace them, a simple, winding chain of colors. It was all sharp edges and blocky connections, like some image out of a history of computing book. With all that though, something about it struck a familiar cord. "Looks like something you should recognize, right?"

Her eyes flicked to him for a moment before returning to the screen. "What is it?"

"Maybe this'll help." The image shifted aside as a new one opened beside it. A similar strand of colors threaded across the new image, but where the first chain was full of edges and bends, the second wound and twisted like ropes.

"That's a DNA strand." Edgar nodded as she spoke, and she looked back to the other picture. Seeing it side by side with the clear DNA image changed how she looked at it, and the similarities between the two jumped out at her. It was like they were the same picture, only one was distorted and warped through a multitude of filters. "So what is that one?"

"That," Edgar said, emphasizing the word, "is from a sample of the metal I used to create my new line of robots."

Her breath caught. "Wait- you're saying that your metal – and the robots you made with it – have DNA?"

"Not exactly?" Edgar shrugged. "The similarities are clearly there, but I can't justify saying they're the same with any certainty."

"Damn your certainty, Edgar!" Celes snapped as the implications rolled over her. Edgar froze and blinked at her, taken aback. "You're telling me – just now telling me – that your robots are what- basically human? Robots don't have DNA, Edgar!"

"Celes-"

"Stop!" Celes jumped from her stool and sent it clattering across the floor. Her teeth clenched as tension thrummed through her body. "Never again. I swore that I would never again blindly hurt others, and you- you manage to trick me into basically murdering someone! In less then a week!" Her chest heaved with ragged breaths as the words washed over her, registering in a way they hadn't when she said them. Celes slumped back against a table.

Everything made sense now – Guts Man's anger at being attacked, Bomb Man's refusal to let them take his memory away, and even the other man's insistence that Bomb Man was so much more then a simple robot. They'd walked in there and demanded something they never had a right to. What had they done?

"Celes," Edgar's soft voice carried through the silence and she looked up. "Please believe me when I say I never intended or imagined that events would go as badly as they did. And after Bomb Man attacked, everything happened so fast, and..." Edgar sighed. Blonde bangs slipped over his eyes as his head fell. "Bomb Man was one of my first new creations. One of the first of his kind."

Celes didn't respond to that – what else was there to say about it? Her breathing slowed as the moment slipped passed, and her temper cooled with it, leaving her looking at the slumped posture of a man who bore his pain in silence. It wasn't difficult to recognize – she saw it often enough in the mirror.

"Why didn't you look into it more?" Celes asked, her words a vast change from before. The gentle tone surprised her even as she spoke it. "Before this all happened?"

"It's been more then a year since the first new robot when into active service," Edgar answered. "I've watched each over their time in the world. Visited and repaired them." He shook his head. "There was never any indication of this level of personality or sentience before. Their code changed over time as they adapted to the world and their work, but nothing more."

She cocked her head. "Why didn't you at least tell me?"

A smile tugged at his lips. "Would you have believed me without seeing it for yourself?"

He had a point there. Living robots? With thoughts and feelings? It was like a bad science fiction movie. "Still, the way I treated them-"

"Bomb Man wasn't your fault," Edgar cut in. "He attacked and tried to kill us, that was his first response, and that he attacked us at all was because of my decisions. You did nothing but protect us."

It didn't feel that way, and her gut twisted as she thought back to the encounter. Robots were tools, and Celes had plenty of experience putting them out of commission. If these new ones were some sort of artificial life form though...

"Enough," Celes muttered before forcing the feelings down with a deep breath. Even if it everything changed how she saw these robot masters, it didn't change their aggressiveness. Just being alive didn't make them good or bad.

She turned back to Edgar and shoved the mixed feelings away. "This special metal, where'd you get it?"

"From my supplier out in Gigantis."

Her brow shot up. "That mining city out in the middle of the ocean?"

"That's the place."

A thought struck her – several in fact – and Celes scowled. "That's not even an island, it's a man made mining platform grown into a city. You're telling me someone just happened to build a city on top of a source of living metal out in the middle of the ocean?"

Edgar shrugged. "Of course it can't be a coincidence, something must've led them there."

"It's not just that," Celes argued. "That city's been there since- I don't even know when."

"About five years ago. Not long after I started development on my robot masters."

Five years. Right about when she left the military. "Only five years?"

"It's not much of a city."

Edgar would know better then her, so Celes let it drop with that. Still, five years wasn't much time, barely enough to start attracting residents – and out to the middle of the ocean no less. Not that its population really mattered. Whoever controlled the place had an interest in the special metal there, so what were they doing with it? Other then giving it to Edgar. Another frown crossed her face. "Who else has this metal?"

"Nobody," Edgar replied. "My supplier wanted to limit its spread until they knew what it was capable of. They sought me out for that purpose."

"Out of the entire scientific community, they chose you," Celes drawled. "You don't think that's the least bit suspicious?"

"Out of everyone who competed, I chose you," Edgar mimicked with a smirk. "Should you be suspicious?"

"A bit, actually." Edgar blinked at her response – he likely didn't expect that. "But fine, we'll forget that for now. Who's your supplier?"

He hesitated. "I don't think I'm supposed to tell people that."

"Edgar-"

"But I know – bigger problems." Celes fumed at the grin playing over his face. He was playing with her. "I've never met him in person though, I only know him by his first name: Leo."

Celes froze. It couldn't be the Leo she knew, and why would it be? Tons of people could have the same name. Just because this Leo had chosen Edgar out of all possibilities to work with – Edgar, who then chose Celes out of all possibilities to work with. It was too many coincidences, and she feared she knew the answer even before asking. "Edgar, do you have any connection to Katellox Island?"

Surprise flashed over his features. "Uh- Yes. Yes, that's where the Refractors come from."

Celes groaned and slumped into her seat – which turned into a less then graceful collapse to the floor when she remembered she'd knocked the stool away earlier. She blew out a sigh and stayed where she landed. Of course. Since the day she left the military, she'd always felt it went too smoothly, that they let her leave too easily. Damn that man.

"Umm, Celes?" Edgar's voice broke through her thoughts and she raised her head. A smile tugged at her lips when she saw his confused face. Celes could only imagine what she looked like right then, and a helpless giggle bubbled up and slipped past her lips. It was all ridiculous – everything connected together – and none of it was a laughing matter, yet as Edgar's brow rose higher she couldn't help it. She covered her mouth as she tried – and failed – to stop laughing.

Then the lights went out.

Emergency lighting switched on before she had a chance to move, the dim yellow lighting doing little to banish the shadows from the previously well lit room. Celes stayed crouched low to the ground, her body reacting to the new situation and pushing other concerns aside.

When she spoke, even her whispered voice sounded loud in the absence of machine noise. "Edgar, what's going on?"

Edgar spun back to his computer, tapping at it to no effect. "The power's out," he answered, his voice grim as he stood and headed toward the back door. "Come on."

Though he didn't run, his fast stride wasn't far off. Celes rushed to catch up. "How does your power just go out?'

"It doesn't."

Celes cursed. "What about backup systems? You must have some other form of security!"

He swung open a wall compartment near the door and hauled out a... something large enough that he hefted it in both hands. It had a trigger and a barrel though so it wasn't hard to make a general guess, even if it was the strangest looking gun she'd ever seen. "Of course I do," he said, looking back at her with a grin. "You're it." Celes stared at him and he shifted into a shrug. "With my assistance, of course."

"Of course," Celes muttered, then gestured at his gun. "I don't suppose you have one of those for me?"

"Afraid not, we'd have to get down into storage to find you anything like it- oh, allow me." He waved her off as she tried to tug the door open, then leaned on his weapon and pulled something from his belt. A few button presses later, the large robot she'd seen in his lab before stood from where it was hunched in the corner. It crossed the dark room without trouble, dug its metal fingers into the door frame, and forced it open.

Celes raised a brow at the sight. Those doors weren't easy to move without power. "Why not bring this thing with us?"

"It's not a combat unit," Edgar replied as he peeked out into the hall. "Wouldn't even know how to throw a punch."

She accepted that without comment, then slipped through the door beside Edgar. Her nerves hummed beneath her skin, and her fingers itched for a weapon. Since she'd started wearing the mega-suit, she didn't even carry a simple blaster with her – where would she put it? "Could we activate the mega-suit if we get to it?"

"It doesn't need an external power source," he said with a nod. "Getting it out of the capsule's a little more difficult, but I can do it."

So no splitting up then. Edgar couldn't use the suit even if he got to it, and Celes couldn't get to the suit without Edgar. Just as well, since he had the only weapon between them. Celes focused as they moved down the shadowed halls, eyes alert as they flashed from one side of them to the next. Thankfully, the complex wasn't large, but in the dark, the hallways seemed endless, and held far too many hidden corners. She felt her lack of weapons acutely.

Questions hung on her lips, but she didn't want to risk breaking the silence around them. If whoever shut the power off didn't already know where they were, she wasn't going to help them. Unfortuntely, neither of them were prepared for stealth, and their boots slapped against the metal floor at a volume that made her wince.

Their goal came into view, the door sitting silent and dark along the wall, and she made a decision. She needed to know. "Who would do this?" Celes asked as they stopped by the suit's storage room.

Edgar's eyes flashed to hers before he set about prying at the door. "I don't have a lot of enemies, if that's what you're asking."

"Must have at least one," Celes said as she slipped in next to him, grabbing the door and adding her strength to the cause.

Edgar grunted, though in agreement or from straining at the door she didn't know. Together they slid the door back on its track maybe a foot or two before he let go, panting hard. Celes managed to keep her breathing even, but her arms ached with the strain. "That wasn't an answer."

It took a moment before be answered, and she heard his breathing even out. "It isn't that easy to knockout my grid, so yes, I have an idea who could've done it." Edgar wedged himself into the door opening. Though he couldn't fit through it, the position would give him better leverage against the door. "But I don't like it."

Celes frowned and took up watching the hall again. She couldn't get in there enough to help him now. "It doesn't matter if you like it, tell me who we're up against."

"Elec Man," Edgar said before he set his jaw and pushed against the door. It ground backwards a few inches before he paused for breath. "He would have the innate ability to enter any electrical system he wanted to." Another grunt as he pushed the door again. "I just don't know why he would."

"Another of your robot masters?"

A nod was his answer as he groaned against the door once more before sliding down in the frame. The opening was wide enough for them to slip through. He looked up to her, his lips parting as if to say something before his eyes went wide. "Celes!"

She threw herself forward as he yelled out the warning, a breath of wind whipping her hair across her face as she ducked and spun. Something had missed her by a scant finger width, and as her spin brought her around in full she saw what it was. A dark figure stood in the hall where she'd been moments ago. Her attacker held a short sword – or a long knife – In each hand and bore a small, bladed weapon with four points upon its forehead. A mask covered all but its eyes, but that little bit was enough to see the enemy for what it was: a robot.

A second later it came on again in a blur of motion her eyes couldn't begin to keep up with. Then Edgar was in between them, the large gun of his hefted in both hands and firing out... darts? They weren't bullets, whatever they were, and they whistled out of the weapon and through the air in a steady stream. Metallic clangs rang out as the robot deflected some of the projectiles with its blades and dodged the rest in a series of flips and spins. Celes watched the display of agility in shock.

"Celes! Go back!" She tore her eyes away at Edgar's shout and she backed down the hallway as her mind caught up with the situation. Edgar followed step by slow step, never letting up on his attack. Though the robot didn't gain ground on them, neither did the distance increase. For each step they took, it followed, warding off the never ending stream of darts with unerring precision.

Until the stream stopped. Edgar's weapon hummed in his hands, but nothing came out. He was out of ammo.

"Time to go!" Edgar turned and ran, and she didn't hesitate to follow. The door back to his lab stood open not ten feet away, but Celes had a feeling it was nine feet too far.

"Give me that!" Celes reached over and tore the weapon from his hands. "Get ready to close that door!" Then she spun around, shoving against Edgar to keep him moving.

The blade came down on her almost before she got her eyes straight, and she brought Edgar's empty gun up to deflect it. Celes spun the weapon, knocking aside her attacker's first weapon and intercepting the second as it darted in low toward her side. Still she gave ground, backing toward the door as the robot attacked over and over, blades flashing through the air. Counter attacking was out of the question, it was all she could do to keep from getting skewered.

"Celes!" Edgar shouted. "Come on!

His voice was too far off though, she couldn't disengage that far. "Just be ready!" she shouted back. A yelp followed the words as a blade slipped through her guard and nicked her upper arm. Celes growled at the slip and renewed her efforts. She took another step back, then another, when the robot pulled back from the clash and dashed forward again in a single motion. Celes jumped back a step – and her shoulder hit the wall. Her footing stumbled and her breath caught. The robot knew that would happen, baited her into it, and now she couldn't steady her guard in time.

"Come on!" A hand snagged her shirt at her other shoulder and yanked, tugging her around the corner she hadn't realized she was on. A blade flashed by as she slipped through the opening, and the door slammed shut on it, pinning the weapon in place. "Hold that door closed," Edgar ordered, and his large robot stood still as a statue against the door. Celes let the weapon drop to her side as Edgar turned to her. "You alright?"

She nodded, "Yeah, thanks. Back to square one though, I guess." Being stuck in Edgar's lab put them closer to outside, if they wanted to walk unarmed out the front door. The other exit from the room was closed, but without the electronic locks it wasn't any more secure then the one being held shut by Edgar's robot, and they didn't have another one of those around. "Are we secure here?"

"Not for long I'd guess," Edgar grimaced and dropped into his computer chair. He gave the screen a few futile taps.

"Is there any other way to get to the suit?"

He spun back to her. "We could technically use the emergency exit tunnel from that room to get back into it, but we'd be stuck with anyone else in the room. Climbing that path isn't fast."

"You think there'll be someone else in there?"

"It would make sense. Why attack us here if they didn't want something? And the suit's the most valuable thing here."

"Other than you," Celes added.

He smiled. "Such flattery, but if they're after me then they're doing a terrible job of it." Sighing, he shook his head. "No, they're here to take something, and knocking out the power tells me it's something here in the building, not in my database."

Celes paced, feeling helpless. She hated being helpless. "Don't you have any more weapons here? Something we can fight past that... ninja-bot with? Why you make something like that anyway?"

"I didn't." Her pacing stalled. "He's not one of mine. And no, my auto-crossbow's the only thing I keep on hand in my lab."

"Auto-," Celes shook her head. "Never mind. What do you mean it's not one of yours? You're telling me someone else out there is making these super robots?" At his nod, her jaw clenched. "You told me only you could make them."

Edgar blew out a loud sigh and stood, walking a couple steps away. He stopped there, hands on his hips. "What do you want me to say, Celes? Apparently I was mistaken." The scowl fell from Celes' face as she stared at Edgar's back. Whenever things went wrong, whenever she yelled at him, Edgar always kept the mood light. She wasn't sure he could get upset, but there was no mistaking the rough edge to his words.

He turned and met her eyes then. "But if they take that mega-suit, they could make more than robots. We have to assume they're smart enough to reverse engineer it – If they can get it out of the capsule." His voice tensed. "We have to get get that suit, Celes."

At first, she said nothing. Her thoughts tripped over one another as they fought for priority, each equally bad. Still, at least she didn't feel like shouting at Edgar anymore. Funny how now that Edgar showed the slightest bit of tension her own melted away. A meager chuckle slipped out as she shook her head. What a pair they were.

"Edgar," she waited until she had his attention, "the suit doesn't matter if they capture or kill us. Even if they recreated the suit, we could stop them, but nobody else understands your tech. We have to get out of here, simple as that."

Edgar shook his head. "You don't understand the things they could do with the mega-suit."

"We don't even know who 'they' are yet," Celes said, "So let's get out of here, track the suit after they take it, and find out who they are. Plus, we'll get the suit back." Shaking his head again, Edgar turned away, apparently not convinced. "I know you can track it, even if you have to build a tracker from scratch, so let's focus on what comes after that – after we get out of here."

"Celes-"

"One fight at a time, Edgar."

He grimaced and fell silent. No sounds came from the hall, so the ninja must've moved on, but there was no way to know if it intended to leave them alone or if it was looking for another way in. Celes didn't want to find out, not under the circumstances.

After another moment, Edgar sighed. "Fine, you're right. There's another exit over here." He cut across the room and started moving crates and cabinets away from the wall. The outline of a door peeked out from behind them.

"Another secret exit?" Celes asked, curious. "In a robotics lab?"

Edgar grunted as he pushed a stack of crates aside. "You never know what'll happen in my line of work."

Her brow quirked. "Your line of work?" Celes repeated. "What, research and development? You're not a spy, Edgar."

"Well, I mean..." he hesitated. "You know what I mean."

"No, don't think I do."

As he cleared the last of the blocks from the doorway, Edgar shook his head. "Never mind, come on." The door swung open on a hinge, with no tech at all, and Celes followed him through. He locked the door – for all the good it might do – before leading the way down the hall they found themselves in. The floor rose with a slight incline, and a bend showed in the distance, marked by more shadows in the dim lighting. The hall must lead straight to street level.

"Edgar," Celes called, voice low.

"Yeah?"

"You remember telling me you were going to stop with all the secrets, right?"

A pause. "Yeah."

"Then why do you have a secret exit?"

With the silence around them, it wasn't hard to hear him sigh from up ahead of her. "Because of a guy I worked with, years ago. We had a disagreement over the project we were working on at the time and went our separate ways. It ended bad, to put it mildly."

She mulled that over. "So much for not having any enemies. You think this guy would come after you?"

"I'm thinking he might have done just that, yes," Edgar grumbled. "I don't know how he could've pulled it off, but I don't know how anyone could've."

"Because you think Elec Man's involved?"

"Right," Edgar said. "If it was just him doing this alone, I could pass it off as whatever awareness is causing the others to riot, though that wouldn't explain why. With this ninja robot in the picture though there has to be someone else involved. No one's more likely then Dr. Wily."

"Dr. Wily?" Had she heard that name before? "Why does that sound familiar?"

A shrug was Edgar's response. "He was a promising scientist back when we were both still learning, but he never gained much widespread acknowledgment. Wily was actually a nickname some of us gave him. He was always cunning and a bit crooked, more concerned with results no matter what it took to get there. Palazzo's his real name."

Celes stumbled, her mind torn to distraction by the name. "Kefka Palazzo?" she shouted, then winced at the way the volume echoed in the corridor.

Ahead of her, Edgar stopped and half turned to blink at her. "You know him?"

"He's a lunatic!" Celes snapped, making sure to keep her voice down. "Why would you have worked with him?" Somehow she kept the presence of mind to shove Edgar forward and keep him walking.

"He wasn't always crazy." Now turned away, Edgar's face wasn't visible and she couldn't see what, if any, emotions crossed it as he spoke of his former partner. "Crooked, but not crazy, and he was brilliant. We made so much progress working together." Edgar shook his head, his long hair swinging over his back. "He still is brilliant, if you can get past his obvious insanity and complete lack of morals."

Kefka, brilliant? Celes frowned at the thought. In all the times she'd seen him, he never struck her as anything more then an unhinged pscyho. It never made sense why Gestahl kept him around – not until Katellox. If what Edgar said about Kefka was true as well, then it made all the more sense. A true mad scientist.

Which reminded her. "Edgar, I need to tell you-" Celes' words tapered off as the lights surged to life around them, illuminating the corridor in both directions. Both she and Edgar halted their steps to look around. "Really?" Celes grumbled. "Now the power comes back?"

Edgar shook his head, looking far from relieved. "No, this isn't a good thing. We need to go." Having said that, Edgar dashed ahead, leaving Celes hurrying to catch up.

"If the power's back, they're gone, right?" she yelled. After the long, stark silence from before, the hum and buzz of of the hallways, combined with their pounding pace, sounded deafening.

"No!" Edgar shouted back. "If they wanted power it probably means they got into my system! Which means-" Edgar bounced back with a grunt as he turned the corner, stumbling into Celes and almost knocking them both down. Celes reached out to steady him, but her eyes were drawn to the wall of energy now blocking the corridor. "-they got the security running."

Sparks of electricity snapped and crackled through the air mere feet from them, and Celes could only stare. "Edgar, why do you have an energy fence in your secret tunnel?"

"To keep people out, of course."

"Out of your secret," she emphasized the word, "tunnel?"

"Never can be too careful," Edgar shrugged.

"Clearly." With a sigh, Celes moved up next to the security fence. It buzzed louder with each step closer, and a couple sparks jumped the distance to her. She hopped back, her hair frizzing and standing out at the ends. "So can we get past this?"

"Luckily for us, the system's made to keep people out, not in." Edgar pulled a small tool from his belt and knelt by the wall. "There's a maintenance panel here. I should be able to reset the fence."

"How long will that take?"

A series of metal clangs echoed through the hall, and they both stopped to look. Small robots – about half as tall of a person – had fallen from the walls and were angling toward the pair. Clamps waved at the ends of their long, cable thin arms, and they rolled down the hall on the round ball that made up their bottom halves.

"Longer then it'll take them to get here," Edgar said before spinning back to work at the panel.

Celes groaned. "What now then?" She scanned the walls for anything – an escape or a weapon – though she knew there was nothing. "Edgar!"

"Calm down," he answered, voice strained. "Just give me one more second- ah, there." Instead of the fence ahead of them coming down, a new fence surged to life behind them, boxing them in. The robots rolled to a stop on the other side a moment later, their clamps snapping at the air.

Celes let out a relieved breath, "That's one way to do it."

"Yeah, but who knows how fast they'll figure out how to override that," Edgar said, focusing on the maintenance panel. "I've almost got through to the other fence. Be ready to run, it won't be down for long."

Celes scoffed. "If it's long enough for you to get through, I'm somehow not worried." Still, she stood as close to the fence as she dared, catching sight of Edgar's flashed grin before she turned away. He could be surprisingly quick for a scientist, and who knew what other gadgets he could have on him. Better just to be ready.

"Almost... Okay!" The energy barrier sputtered and shut off. "Go!"

As the fence vanished, Celes bolted forward. The distance wasn't far, barely four steps, and she crossed it in one short dash, yet she felt the gate snap back into place before she planted her feet to stop, like the worst release of static electricity ever. Her body twitched while she grit her teeth and waited for the discomfort to pass.

Once it did, she rumbled out a sigh that wasn't quite a growl and turned to glare at Edgar, still on the other side of the fence. "Cut that pretty close, didn't you?"

He gave a one shoulder shrug. "I wasn't sure how long you'd have, but listen-"

"Forget it, we need to get out of here. So do it again – right this time – and let's go."

"Celes, I can't. That was doing it right." Squeaking of metal on metal drew their attention as the robots rolled around beyond the second fence. Edgar grimaced. "There's nothing more I can do from here. You have to get out of here and-"

"And leave you?" Celes asked. "You actually think I'd do that to you?"

A grin grew on his face, though her harsh tone of voice was anything but pleasant. "I'm glad you care, but I'm not telling you to abandon me. They won't kill me, not while they can use me. You need to get help before-"

Behind him, the energy fence disappeared and the robots wasted no time circling Edgar, their clamp like hands latching on wherever they could get a grip. Celes jumped forward, but a shock from the fence still active between them sent her back with a yelp. "Edgar!"

He thrashed and tugged, but the robots overwhelmed him, binding and lifting him. As they carried him away he shouted to her, his words carrying down the hall. "Find Axl! He'll help you!"

Then Edgar was gone, and Celes was left alone, staring after him. She waited only a moment before spinning away and tearing down the hall, or what was left of it. Even from there she could see the ladder leading up, though to where she didn't know. Celes jumped up to grab the rungs, skipping the first three or four, and bounded upward. When she hit the cover at the top, she slammed a shoulder against it, flinging it open to crash against the floor above. Then she was up and out, crouched and ready.

Silent streets and fading sunlight greeted her, and Celes let out the breath she'd been holding. That the enemy wasn't waiting for her there meant they didn't know where the tunnel let out, but that wouldn't stay the case for long. Celes slipped down the alley, checked the street, and – on finding it clear of anything suspicious – started off at a controlled walk in what she hoped was the direction opposite Edgar's lab.

She couldn't shake the tense feeling from her nerves, even as she got farther away, but she forced her breathing to slow. Think. Problems always have a solution, focus on that. Not on how many ways everything could go wrong, or what could happen to Edgar, or where Relm was even at...

Celes groaned and shook the thoughts away. Find Axl, that was her goal. Someone in this city must know who that was. Edgar said they'd help, so Celes would find them, and together they'd track these attackers down.

* * *

A/N: More characters coming soon! Creative license activated! ^_^


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